A Civil Servant in Grenada is questioning the role of the Insurance Office within the Ministry of Finance regarding Insurance Companies and their operations.

She is calling on the Insurance Office to address the plight of persons whose homes were damaged by hurricane Ivan last September and are yet to be compensated by their Insurance companies.

The female Civil Servant told GRENADA TODAY that she took a policy out with a St. George's-based Insurance company that prides itself on being ahead of the rest. She said that she never defaulted on payments but following the passage of hurricane Ivan, her house like the majority of the homes in Grenada suffered damage from Ivan. According to the public officer, she went to her Insurance company to make the necessary application in order to be compensated.

The Civil Servant spoke of submitting her claim and was visited by an Adjuster where she signed to an amount and was promised her cheque at a certain time.

"After nearly a year and another hurricane season later all that was conveyed to me by the Company were empty promises of payment", she remarked. The lady told this newspaper that she has decided to take legal action against the Insurance company and instructed her Attorney to notify them of her actions.

"Can you imagine how it feels to be forced to incur additional debts in order to repair your house because the other party did not honour its commitment? "Would you believe that in all of this the Company did not have the decency or courtesy to apologise to me and offer an explanation for its failure to deliver, as if an explanation is not deserving.

The Civil Servant wondered what would happen to her and other policy holders of that company in the event that it files for bankruptcy. Since the passage of hurricane Ivan, a number of insurance policy holders have complained about not being properly compensated by insurers for damages to their properties.

The Insurance companies have said that several policy holders had under-insured their properties in order to avoid paying a higher premium for proper insurance. The Insurance Office within the Ministry of Finance has stated publicly that persons who are experiencing difficulty receiving payments from their Insurance companies should come into the Department to give a report of their problem.

An official within the Department told this newspaper that the Office will then write to the company and call upon them to respond to the charges within a given time. She said that based on the information received from the insurance company, the department will then decided how best to handle the issue.