British American Creditors To Get 35%
British American policyholders will receive a payment of 35 percent of their claims, it was announced today [Dec.12].
Cheques will be available for collection from the British American offices on Front Street on Monday, December 19 between 9am and 4pm, and then on each business day thereafter.
Creditors should bring valid photo identification [driver’s license or passport] and will be required to sign a form acknowledging receipt. Cheques will not be distributed without complying with the regulations, and cheques that are not collected will be sent by regular mail to the last know address of the creditor.
The statement released today [Dec.12] by the Official Receiver said, “As negotiations with the party interested in purchasing the building have not to date been concluded as announced in the press release in November 30, 2011, the Official Receiver has determined that an interim dividend should be paid to creditors. The interim dividend will be a distribution of 35% of creditors claims.
“A second and final distribution of the remaining balance payable to creditors will be paid once the sale of the building is completed and the proceeds of the sale have been received.”
“The OR is grateful for the continued patience exhibited by creditors during this process and is pleased to be able to make this payment to creditors and take a significant step towards bringing this difficult matter to a close,” said the statement.
“If any creditor is unable to pick up the cheque themselves, or has any questions or queries in relation to this matter they can contact the British American hotline on 294-2651 or via e-mail infoba@kpmg.bm. Further information can also be found at www.kpmg.bm/ba.”
jeeez 35cents on the dollar is betta than nothin I guess…..35K out of 100K investment….hummmmmm
I think KPMG is doing a wonderful job!!!
35%….How generous….just as generous as the bonuses the few remaining British American staff collected as a gesture of goodwill for the ‘stressful’ conditions they’re forced to work under. How about putting bonuses on hold until ALL of the creditors have been paid!!!
If the policyholders of British American knew the full truth about what went on behind the scenes they would be FURIOUS. I can vouch for the fact that the few staff who remained at British American received bonuses every three months for staying on…after getting the bonus of keeping their jobs for 2 1/2 years after the rest of the staff were shown the door. The staff who had to leave right away were treated like dirt and that is no exaggeration. They had to wait almost a year to receive any kind of severance package while their former colleagues who stayed received a monthly paycheque PLUS the aforementioned bonuses. It was absolutely disgusting.
However, the people who REALLY benefitted here are the ‘good’ folks at KPMG. KPMG gets paid before all other creditors and they have reaped a fortune due to this long, drawn-out affair. They talked out of both sides of their mouths so much that I don’t beleieve a word they say. For example, who was this mysterious buyer who was supposed to buy that moldy, roach-infested building? If you want to see roaches, just go visit the ground floor men’s restroom, open the cupboard under the sink and see them scatter. Ditto for the kitchen and pump room in the basement. Oh-and the health department was called out and has a report on it as well so it’s all true! Plus the basement floods like crazy when it rains (and even when it doesn’t!) because it’s under sea level and there are cracks all in the walls (check out the boardroom in the basement). Nobody is going to buy that place at that price…they should have sold it to a very well known developer when they had the chance.
Anyway-I am one who won’t let this injustice go and I intend on asking the Ombudsman to investigate this situationa and I encourage everyone else to as well if you want the full story of what went on and why as a policyholder you only received this pittance of a settlement!!!
I totally agree, but I am truly disappointed by our government. I am not speaking about political parties, but government as a whole (including the opposition) and the BMA because nobody raised any issues with the length of time it took for BA holders to get their money. I have heard every insignificant topic running in the headlines, but I never heard any topics on the BA situation unless it came from a policy holder. This situation has affected tons of Bermudians and I just feel like no-one really cares accept the policy holders. I just thought Government would have kept a better eye on it to make sure every policy holder got their fair share just like how they care about us to close BA down. It was real obvious that the longer KPMG took to wrap this situation up, the more money they would earn and the less money BA’s policy holders would receive.
I don’t know about anyone else but it seems that every time we get quoted a percentage it is less and less. Before when we had the General Meeting, it was quoted that BA holders should get 40% of their investments plus an additional 10% from the sale of the building. This is a total of 50%. I do understand that KPMG need to get paid for their hard work, but I also know that the longer we wait, the less money we are going to get. So I am glad this is becoming resolved, but I would also like to know what percentage we are going to receive from the sale of the building. I hope it is at least 10% so I can get 45% of my money back.
I worked for British American at the time it went belly-up and I can vouch for what others have said-especially about how the first group of employees to be made redundant were treated. I have zero respect for KPMG for the way they acted: they just wanted us to go as quickly and quietly as possible. They called us in one by one and gave us an envelope saying that it was our severance package. When I started to open the envelope in the meeting, the two gentlemen present (how I wish I could name and shame them!) quickly said ‘no, no-you don’t have to open it now.’ When I left the meeting and opened it, there was no cheque inside but just a letter saying what I was entitled to. If that isn’t being deceitful, I don’t know what is. It took us NINE months to get a severance package and even then mine wasn’t correct.
KPMG didn’t even keep the best staff for the job to assist with the winding-up. That is something that should be looked into. I personally had to train a temp to do my job in a week, with the most nasty Brit on the face of the earth threatening that I would be let go and not receive a settlement if I didn’t do it. Since the company’s computer systems don’t have checks and balances in place, it was only my expertise that determined what benefits were paid and which weren’t so I know for a fact that B.A. paid out money on claims that the policyholders weren’t entitled to because my replacement had no idea as to what the benefits for each policy were. Even the manager didn’t know and that is a fact!
I can say for a fact that B.A. was in serious trouble for years. The agency manager had zero experience in running an insurance company and I dare anyone to say differently because I can prove it. B.A. paid out money above and beyond what people were entitled to for years and even paid out claims on policies that were delinquent. Again, I can prove it! When B.A. went into receivership the first person to go should have been the manager under whose watch all the stuff that brought done the company took place. The staff who stayed were paid bonuses until the former employees found out and we were told that was stopped but we don’t know if it was or not.
There is just so much I want to say. It’s frustrating how this was handled. People poured their hard earned money into this company. A few years ago the regulators put restrictions on the company so they knew that all wasn’t kosher. The lucky few who got wind the company was going belly-up were able to withdraw their money (cash surrender policies) which amounts almost to insider trading. KPMG is the entity who gained the most from this. Policyholders need to speak up and demand answers. We need to speak to our MP’s and ask for the Ombudsman to investigate like someone suggested. They want us to all just shut up and go away peacefully but people should speak up! If this was the U.S., these people would be toast. Here it’s like the media is scared to expose these people and ask the heavy questions. One question that I’d like answered for starters is how much KPMG was paid for their ‘services.
I wish whomever has the vital information would forward it to me because there’s no shame in my game and “I ain’t scurred” to name and shame…disgusting that they would “hide” money from people,,,word of advice if any of you have grandparents that have passed within the last 4 years prior to your 18th birthday you better check and see if they had a policy, because if you don’t tell British American ain’t telling either….Also don’t plan on ‘Occupying KPMG’ because they have a plan in place and security knows exactly what to do should you try it! AND the staff know exatly what to tell you when you call!!! Do you think KPMG are getting paid 35% for their services??? NO!!! they are getting top dollar…OUR dollar is paying them and we are getting the scraps!!
I’m blindsided by the comments being posted. I was under the impression in the meeting held back in May that all policy holders who had a claim were entitled to approx 50% of the claims value due to Gov’t stepping in and forcing BA to create a fund that is half the value of their assets to pay out to policy holders should they find themselves in another ‘situation’.
I was also under the impression that the interest made off of this fund is whats paying the day to day costs – do the math and the interest being made monthly off of 10Mil can take you a long way. But if the staff have been given bonuses off of money that is suppose to be paid to policy holders – that’s crazy. Mr. Lowe as the official receiver – you need to address this situation and rectify it. Who is KPMG to issue/authorise the staff to such an entitlement in the financial situation BA has found themselves in. How do you justify offering your creditors 50% of what is truely owed to them because of lack of funds but offer staff incentive bonuses to stay on. KPMG all the money you are making off of this situation – you should be the ones to run the full opertion and move the check collection/issuance out of your office to give the creditors more money to claim. I just don’t get – you are messing with my MONEY and majority of Bermuda’s. So come correct.
When KPMG came on as the agents of the official receiver, the remaining staff were then technically being employed by KPMG so KPMG say that gave them the right to pay these staff whatever they want-including bonuses. Yet ultimately KPMG is being paid out of the assets of the company before everyone else so it’s still all policyholder money. Again — how much was KPMG paid? It has to be in the hundreds of thousands and that is no exaggeration! People need to demand answers on this! If I took money from hundreds of people under the same conditions that British American did, I’d in prison by now yet no-one is being held accountable here. It has been revealed that money from Bermuda was being funnelled to the H/O. SO who funnelled it out of here? I personally witnessed something very suspect (I wish I could say what!!!)-that was extremely unethical at the very least and I just got a condescending ‘Uh, huh’ from KPMG when I mentioned it. People need to ask how did this happen!
Also, a few staff tipped off the BMA about things that weren’t kosher at the company-me being one. Yet the ones who spoke up were the first to go. It personally cost me a ton of severance in the process. It makes one feel the lesson learned is to sit back and keep your trap shut because the ones who do wrong get no repercussions, yet the ones who think they’re doing the right thing suffer. That’s really the way I feel sometimes.
I can see this situation happening again because it’s already happened with United Security Ins. and now British American. We Bermudians just sit back and accept things and wonder why we end up being victims.
I hope somebody in a position of authority is reading these comments and has the guts to start an investigation. I personally know a couple of people that have lost money in this scam….and yes, I’m calling it a scam because British American continued to collect unsuspecting people’s money knowing full well they would lose it! These poor people have resorted to taking money out of their pension plans or go on Government assistance just to survive. Like somebody said earlier some people were tipped off that the you-know-what was about to hit the fan and pulled out just in time. This was unfair to the others who had no clue….look at them now, they’re still waiting! The Manager of BA should have been the first one to get the heave-ho, this all happened under her watch. Only in Bermy!!!