Cedric Stephens | A cry for justice, Minister Chuck
Published:Friday | April 20, 2018 | 12:00 AM
Question: I have been in a battle with the Jamaica Defence Force for nearly two years. My vehicle was involved in an accident with one of theirs in November 2016. JAA roadside assistance visited the scene. They conducted investigations and took statements by the book.
The accident occurred because the JDF vehicle was in a line of traffic and attempted to turn back. It entered my lane and hit my car. The JDF was solely to blame. The issue remains unsettled.
The Attorney General's Department and the JDF keep going in circles. My insurers paid me, but until now, they haven't received a cent from the JDF. My premium has doubled since the accident. I am sure that other persons are having similar experiences.
The case number in the AG's office is AO 109, which you are free to use if it will speed up the settlement process. Can you please help?
INSURANCE HELPLINE: My short answer to your question is no. Why? Government bureaucracy. The Cambridge English Dictionary, of all places, explains. One of its definitions of bureaucracy is "a system for controlling or managing a country, company or organization that is operated by a large number of officials employed to follow rules carefully".
The persons in our bureaucracy work in the JDF, the AGD, and ministries of justice and finance. I suspect that scores of officials across at least four separate locations are involved and that compliance with hundreds of rules is necessary before a cheque can be drawn.
The problems that are plaguing the process pre-date the setting up of the Cornwall Regional Hospital. Forty-four years later, the latter is now being fixed to correct a series of recurring problems. In the meantime, the dysfunctions in the claims-settlement process remain. Taxpayers like you and many others continue to bear the costs of the inefficiency with no relief in sight.
NOT ALONE
'Praying for payment' was the headline of an article published in this newspaper on February 17, 2017. Staff reporter Ryon Jones started by relating the experiences of an 83-year-old pensioner. He waited more than two years "to collect $300,000 he was owed after a police vehicle hit his car". He was among 200 persons (an underestimate in my opinion) who were owed more than $385 million in compensation for incidents where agents of the State had wronged them.
On November 22, 2015, I wrote 'Dear Attorney General, how does GOJ motor self-insurance work?' Two years passed, and I received no response. I then made a request under the Access to Information Act. The response did not properly address the questions that I had posed. I was referred to the financial secretary (FS). We exchanged emails, and he asked some officers in that ministry to provide information.
Shortly afterwards, the FS was transferred to another post in the bureaucracy. Nothing has happened during the last three years - despite the article that I wrote in February 19, 2017: 'GOJ claims delays forcing victims to 'wait and pray''.
Justice, according to Law.com, means: "1) fairness. 2) moral rightness. 3) a scheme or system of law in which every person receives his/
her/its due from the system, including all rights, both natural and legal."
The Oxford Dictionary defines justice as "the quality of being fair and reasonable".
The Government is treating citizens who have the misfortune of being involved in collisions with some of their state-owned vehicles most unfairly. They are forced to pay substantial fines when their vehicles do not comply with the Motor Vehicles Insurance (Third-Party Risks) Act and are uninsured.
The State, for the most part, self-insures many of its vehicles. By so doing, it acts as its own insurer. The way in which the State treats victims of accidents who are injured by its agents and/or employees is disgraceful. Innocent victims wait for years to get compensation.
The Government-run insurance regulator would be up in arms if similar treatment was meted out to third parties by private insurance companies. The Government has absolutely no moral or legal right to stretch out the period in which it settles the legitimate claims of citizens for as long as it wants. The current practices are not fair to citizens. Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck should take an interest in the matter since the AG apparently does not consider the matter important.
- Cedric E. Stephens provides independent information and advice about the management of risks and insurance. He can be contacted at aegis@flowja.com.