PHILIPSBURG--NAGICO Insurances and the TelEm Group of Companies reached settlement in relation to the telecommunication company’s submitted claim following the passage of Hurricanes Irma and Maria last year.
A final settlement cheque was presented to TelEm Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Helma Etnel, by NAGICO Insurances CEO Dwayne Elgin during a brief presentation ceremony at the TelEm Group main building on Pond Island last week.
The settlement process included negotiations between the parties that began almost immediately after the initial hurricane passed, and included an advance payment to TelEm Group by NAGICO Insurances to ensure that priority matters could be handled expediently by TelEm Group management and staff.
Addressing the matter during the presentation, Etnel thanked NAGICO Insurances and its CEO for the satisfactory outcome of TelEm Group’s insurance claim following the passage of the two devastating hurricanes.
“For us it was a learning process with much back-and-forth on several important issues. Thankfully, we were able to work professionally and steadfastly while maintaining our respective positions to put us where we are today with a final settlement,” said Etnel.
TelEm Group CEO Kendal Dupersoy conveyed his own gratitude to NAGICO Insurances for the advance payment of funds prior to the final settlement.
“The first allocation allowed us to secure damaged buildings and central offices, save vital equipment and safeguard our service to the people of St. Maarten,” said Dupersoy.
He said TelEm Group will be putting the settlement amount to good use by ramping up repairs of the company’s telecommunication networks in various areas around the island.
“There is still a shortage of available materials in the region for these repairs. However, we will continue to find innovative and creative ways to provide the essential telecommunication services our community requires,” said Dupersoy.
In making the presentation of the final claim settlement, Elgin said, “Communication is a critical part of everything we do in business and also in our personal lives. We are happy to have been able to assist TelEm with their restoration work through the provision of an advance payment in the early stages of the process and now with the full settlement agreed upon and paid.”
During the presentation, Etnel praised TelEm Group Senior Financial Adviser Marit Beihuizen for her coordination of all aspects of the insurance claim from the outset, with the support of Chief Technical Officer Eldert Louisa and Managing Director of Smitcoms Ltd, in Curaçao Nelson Vinck.
“Marit did a fantastic job of coordinating with the adjusters and assessors and with all the different elements involved within the company. She ensured that TelEm Group’s interests were properly protected and she was meticulous in her follow-up and the attention to detail that was required for a very complicated process, again ensuring a mutually successful outcome for TelEm Group and also for NAGICO Insurances,” Etnel stated.
NAGICO Insurances said it is continuing to work toward the settlement of the remainder of its open claims. To date, it has paid in excess of half a billion US dollars in claim settlements throughout the Caribbean.
