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NIS pays out $82.6M to CARICOM pensioners
NIS’ General Manager, Holly Greaves
The state-controlled, National Insurance Scheme, says it has paid out over $82M in old age pensions to CARICOM nationals.
Speaking during the recent 49th anniversary celebrations, General Manager Holly Greaves said that as of August 2018, the scheme received and processed claims under the CARICOM Agreement on Social Security.
As at August 2018, the scheme received 235 applications from fourteen countries. Seventy six (76) persons are currently receiving partial old age pensions to the value of $22,296,708 annually and Eighty nine (89) persons received grants to the value of $3,018,697.”
In addition, 38 new applications are presently being processed.
As at August 2018, the National Insurance Scheme has made a total of $82,693,803 in old age pension payments to persons under the CARICOM Agreement, she said.
Signed in 1996, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Agreement on Social Security aims to harmonise the social security legislation of CARICOM Member States.
Workers and their dependants who are registered in one of the ratifying Member States are entitled to benefits paid by the social security schemes in the countries in which they have contributed, but with some limitations. The benefits covered by the agreement include contributory pensions for invalidity, disability, old age, and death and survivors’ benefits. Maternity allowances or sickness benefits are not covered. The agreement is seen as key in facilitating the free movement of labour within the CARICOM Single Market, as it applies to those who are moving to another country to work or have worked in two or more countries that have implemented the agreement.
With regards to problems relating to poor customer service and the extensive time taken to resolve customer issues, which have led to public distrust and poor publicity, the GM disclosed that as part of the efforts to alleviate the situation, at the beginning of this year, the scheme introduced a live web chat for its customers.
“This feature allows persons to chat live with a Customer Service staff or to post questions and queries on weekends which are usually answered on the first working day of the new week.”
With the continued expansion of the Web-Application, another small but powerful addition to the online application is the pension calculator.
“This tool examines the contributor’s most recent insurable wage and their contributions, and makes a projection as to what their pension would be if they continued at that insurable wage,” Greaves explained.
Contributors registered with the NIS website are also able to view a list of all the vouchers issued to them during the last year. The individuals are able to view the claim type, payment amount and date of payment.
In addition, contributors can view the full payment history of their employers by selecting the employer name when viewing their contributions online.
“This tool allows the employee to assist NIS in monitoring their employer as any discrepancies, such as the number of employees paid for against the number on the actual work site,” the GM explained.
She said that over the past few months, the scheme had two outreach programmes- the Pensions Readiness Programme and a Queries Day for all contributors of the scheme.
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