The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

CLICO (Bahamas) policyholders “have moved from disappointment to disillusionment”, a prominent cleric yesterday saying his three-week effort to secure a meeting with Prime Minister Perry Christie on the issue had failed.

Bishop Simeon Hall, himself an annuity holder with the failed life and health insurer, told Tribune Business that CLICO (Bahamas) policyholders were themselves set to meet within the next “few days” to determine their next approach.

Next month will mark seven years since more than 13,000 Bahamians saw their life savings and investments disappear with CLICO (Bahamas) collapse into insolvency, while medical policyholders are on the verge of having their coverage cancelled by the liquidator.

With a resolution seemingly further away than ever, Bishop Hall said it was “a terrible indictment” on successive governments that they had yet to implement a ‘rescue plan’ for the thousands of policyholders and creditors.

“We’ve moved from disappointment to disillusionment on this matter,” he told Tribune Business, “because we can’t get any word, and I have been trying to get into the Prime Minister for the past three weeks. I have been personally trying to get there.

“As old people used to say: It’s gone from worse to worser. I think it’s a terrible indictment on our government that this has happened, and no clear direction has been given. In the absence of information, people will reach their own conclusions.”

Tribune Business revealed in November how Craig A. ‘Tony’ Gomez planned to cancel all CLICO (Bahamas) medical policies on New Year’s Eve if the Government failed yet again to deliver on its resolution promises.

He held off until the New Year so that hundreds of Bahamians and their families were not greeted with bad news over the festive period, but the cancellation notices were due to be issued to policyholders this week.

Mr Gomez has little choice but to cancel the medical insurance policies unless the Government comes through, because high claims payouts are eroding the $11.893 million in CLICO (Bahamas) bank accounts. This undermines his duty to preserve and maintain the asset for the benefit of creditors.

This threat appears to have sparked increased, but belated, activity from the Ministry of Finance and the Attorney General’s Office over the structuring of ‘NewCo’, the special purpose vehicle (SPV) that will be created to take all CLICO (Bahamas) remaining insurance policy. It will act as their ‘new underwriter’ until another carrier purchases the portfolio.

Tribune Business understands that the Ministry of Finance and the Attorney General’s Office are in agreement with the Insurance Commission of the Bahamas (ICB) over how ‘NewCo’ should be structured, but time has almost run out for the medical policyholders.

“I think there’s going to be some movement by the policyholders in a couple of days,” Bishop Hall told Tribune Business yesterday. “We want to come together to see what’s our next step forward.

“I’m still hopeful the Government will say something in the next couple of says. We’re praying and praying. The Bahamian people remain passive and you’ve got to do their work for them. It’s only our Christian faith that keeps us going.”

Bishop Hall accused CLICO (Bahamas) of “plundering” New Covenant Baptist Church money that had been invested with it, and was lost when the insurer collapsed into insolvency in February 2009.

“We hope we will not become like the bank that went bankrupt, and people waited years for some resolution,” he added, in a reference to Gulf Union Bank (Bahamas).

“This will make it our seventh year... You wonder about the sincerity and integrity of some of our politicians, who have promised to help us but done nothing.”

While not identifying who he was referring to, Bishop Hall said: “The thing rumoured among some of the policyholders is that there were some politicians who got money out just before this thing [CLICO] went belly up.

“I don’t know that to be true, but every time we meet that’s brought up. Thank God we’re people of faith. As dark as the crucifixion was, resurrection followed, and hopefully something good will come out of this.”

Rather than the Ingraham administration’s initial $30 million guarantee, the current government was dividing CLICO (Bahamas) clients into annuity holders and insurance policyholders.

The last proposed resolution was to pay out annuity holders with products worth less than $10,000 or less. Those holding annuities worth $10,000 or more will get that sum up front, and be paid the rest in government bonds with a seven-year maturity.

Former CLICO (Bahamas) employees also will be paid the severance pay and pension benefits due to them, while insurance policyholders will be transferred either to a new underwriter or special purpose vehicle (SPV) created by the government.

This proposal, though, was made in late June 2015, and more than six months later has yet to be put into effect.