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SOEs Ministry starts processing Jiwasraya claim payments
“We will prioritize payments for conventional [life insurance] products because most of the policies are held by retirees,” Tiko said.
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The Jiwasraya android application. (JP/Jerry Adiguna)
T
he State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Ministry is currently processing the payment of state-run insurer PT Asuransi Jiwasraya policyholders' claims, a high-ranking official said.
Deputy SOEs Minister Kartika “Tiko” Wirjoatmodjo said on Friday that the ministry was still waiting to confirm the total number of unpaid claims based on the Development Finance Comptroller’s (BPKP) audit figure. Afterward, the ministry would confirm the number with each policyholder so it could process the claims.
“We will prioritize payments for conventional [life insurance] products because most of the policies are held by retirees,” Tiko said. The SOEs ministry is said to have set aside Rp 400 billion (US$24.4 million) to pay the claims, according to a kompas.com report.
Jiwasraya has been in the spotlight following its failure to pay its customers’ matured policies worth Rp 16 trillion due to investment mismanagement, prompting the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to launch a corruption investigation. The AGO has named six suspects, detained all of them, and suspended 800 securities accounts related to Jiwasraya.
Read also: State capital injection last resort to rescue Jiwasraya: Government
Coordinator of the Jiwasraya Saving Plan Clients Forum, Rudhyanto, said the SOEs Ministry’s decision to prioritize life insurance policyholders was unfair to JS Saving Plan clients.
“There should be no difference in treatment between the conventional product and saving plan policyholders,” Rudhyanto told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Despite the protest, the saving plan clients admitted that they could not do anything to help get their money back after the ailing insurer failed to pay the product’s claims, which fell due in 2018 and onward.
“Jiwasraya has, from the start, failed to create a clear line of communication with us or the banks that helped it sell the product and it continues to do so,” Rudhyanto said. “Right now, we don’t know who we are supposed to be asking to get clear information on our payments.”
Given the situation, he said JS Saving Plan policyholders could only hope that the ailing insurer would get their money back after it was mismanaged by Jiwasraya.
In the meantime, the SOEs Ministry plans to sell some assets owned by the ailing insurer, including a shopping mall in South Jakarta, Cilandak Town Square (Citos) and a collection of mutual funds in an effort to pay clients’ claims.
Read also: Govt to sell Jiwasraya assets, including Jakarta mall, to pay back creditors
The ministry stressed that a state capital injection into Jiwasraya would be a last resort in the government’s effort to rescue the ailing insurance company as the ministry and the House of Representatives discuss several scenarios to save the insurer from bankruptcy and help it pay its policyholders’ claims.
Arya Sinulingga, an aide to Minister Erick Thohir, said earlier this month that it would prioritize other SOEs to buy the assets. However, state-run firms that are interested would need to offer competitive prices as the ministry would not sell the assets below market price.
He added that personal assets from those who allegedly took part in the Jiwasraya investment mismanagement case would not be available for sale unless there was a court ruling to that effect that could take two to three years.
Previously, the AGO seized Rp 13.1 trillion worth of assets from six suspects in the alleged investment mismanagement case. Among the confiscated assets were jewelry, land certificates, vehicles, coal and gold mines.
