Dear Editor,
The Friday, July 10, edition of the Stabroek News carried a letter captioned ‘Harassment from the NIS’ which was penned by Ms Sharon Westmaas.
The Scheme notes with concern the contents of the letter and is offering an apology to Ms Westmaas for what she felt was harassment from the Scheme. However, NIS wishes to inform/remind the writer and the general public that there is a procedure for such requests.
1) If the Pensioner is alive, the person who is making such a request must be the pensioner or official representative of that pensioner and must submit the request in writing to the General Manager.
In this specific case the person who made the request for information on the pensioner is not on record as the official representative of that pensioner.
It is important at this point to note that the Scheme has a policy on giving information to persons who are considered to be a third party, (meaning someone that the pensioner has not authorized to act on his/her behalf) and this is treated seriously since there could be legal implications if otherwise is done.
2) If the pensioner is deceased and has left a will then, the executor(s) of his or her estate would be legally authorized to transact business with NIS (this includes the requesting of information) in respect of the deceased insured person. Similarly, the administrator of the person’s estate would be authorized to do so.
In the absence of a will/letter of administration the person who is responsible for the burial of the deceased insured person would be authorized to transact business with NIS. However, the relevant supporting documents would have to accompany such a letter of request (for example, death certificate or proof of death ‒ as in the case of Canada and receipt for the burial expenses).
3) If the request for information is being made from overseas, then all documents including the letter of request must be notarized by the Guyana Consulate in the country where the person is residing.
The NIS did express condolences to Ms Eileen Cox’s family and relatives at her funeral service and publicly again state our thanks for her sterling contributions to improvements in the service of the organization over the years. NIS would also like to reassure Ms Westmaas that every effort would be made to resolve this situation.
Yours faithfully,
Dianne Lewis-Baxter
Publicity and Public Relations
Officer National Insurance Scheme