Each week, the Guardian Angel column highlights complaints sent in by you, the consumer, and provides solutions or directs you to the appropriate resource.
Problem: Ms Joan Brathwaite said, “I submitted my paperwork to NIS on June 2, 2011. Having heard nothing further, I returned to the office in January 2012. “I was told my claim had been approved and I should check my bank account by July 2012. I waited and looked but no money was deposited.
“I returned to the office in May 2013 and was told it was being processed but no date could be given. “I wrote a letter to Ms Karen Gopaul in July 2013 and received a reply from Ms Debra Modeste in August 2013 that they were looking into the matter. “I went to the Cipriani Boulevard office in October 2013 but they had to call to Wrightson Road for my information, even though Ms Modeste had replied to my letter from Cipriani Boulevard.”
Ms Brathwaite said, “I am now 64 years old and I am yet to receive any benefits from NIS. I worked for 23 years in the teaching service but I am still waiting.”
Solution: NIB said Ms Brathwaite’s application was processed in October 2013. However, her application is yet to be forwarded to the manager of insurance operations to ratify her first payment, since the retroactive payment is more than the amount the manager at the service centre can approve. NIB said they will follow up with Ms Brathwaite when the file is forwarded to insurance operations.
Problem: Mr Ramjattan Gangadeen sent in a complaint on behalf of Mr Vishnu Maharaj of Partap Trace, South Oropouche. Mr Maharaj, who turned 65 in October, made 505 contributions to NIS during his employment at SM Jaleel. He applied for his retirement pension in 2008 but all he received was $7,000. Mr Maharaj said he made “numerous visits and phone calls” to the NIS office concerning his NIS pension and so far he has been getting a runaround.
Mr Gangadeen said at present Mr Maharaj is “unemployed and having to care for his ailing wife and is not yet in receipt of the government pension which he applied for.”
Solution: NIB explained: “The $7,000 initial payment that Mr Maharaj received was an interim payment, pending the completion of an ongoing investigation to retrieve possible missing contributions.” However, NIB said Mr Maharaj’s application “has been settled as a retirement grant that has to be forwarded to the manager of insurance operations to ratify the payment, as it is in excess of what the manager at San Fernando can authorise.”
A retirement grant is a one-time lump-sum payment for those who have made less than 750 contributions, whereas the retirement pension is payable for life to people who have 750 contributions or more (the minimum requirement for a basic pension). NIB said the file was forwarded to insurance operations and payment will be credited within a month.