Policyholders of the Colonial Life Insurance Company

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Policyholders of the Colonial Life Insurance Company (CLICO) Guyana can now start breathing a sigh of relief as the liquidator has commenced payouts.This was confirmed by Deputy Governor of the Bank of Guyana, Dr Gobin Ganga, yesterday.According to Dr Ganga, these payouts will be made to those that have policies under $30M.As it relates to the submission of bids for the assets he said that the closing date for bids was only on Friday and as such he was not in a position to comment given that he did not have the requisite information at hand.A total of 11,290 policyholders with deposits and policies in the failed insurance giant are to be paid.Several policyholders are yet to be given word despite the fact that the liquidator has said that letters have been issued.Meanwhile, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) yesterday stated that it has been monitoring, closely, development with respect to the CLICO Group across the Caribbean.The umbrella body said that it has more than a passing interest in the matter, given that so many of their members have policies with this company, and given the wider implications for the business and labour environment.“The Federation now wishes to place on record that it welcomes the actions taken and announcements made by Government with a view to bringing the CLICO (Guyana) matter to closure, following the decision by the Chief Justice to place the company in liquidation.”It was pointed out that the Government’s decision to sell the long term insurance portfolio to ensure its continuity and to make $3.6B immediately available to refund holders of policies under other classes of business “is wholeheartedly congratulated and welcomed.”FITUG said that it compares favourably with the approach taken in several other jurisdictions across the Caribbean, and reflects a position that clearly places priority on the interests of policyholders who are the working people of this country.“At the same time, FITUG condemns any action aimed at frustrating the process of disbursements to policyholders and wishes to warn against those ambitions as they are clearly designed to delay the resolution of this matter and to protract the anxiety of those who were waiting to realise the value of their policies.”FITUG urged strongly that no further attempts at delay should be countenanced, and the liquidation process must proceed smoothly and unhindered in order that among other things workers could access their pension funds.FITUG also urged that patience and understanding be displayed as the liquidators undertake the very substantial task of bringing relief to the thousands of policyholders who have long awaited this day.“FITUG has no doubt that Government’s intervention was and is necessary to have an amicable resolution to the CLICO (Guyana) fiasco.”