The management of Saar Insurance Company, which has been operating in Liberia since 2011, has termed as malicious, false and misleading propaganda the Wednesday, April 3, 2024 Volume 30. No. 30 edition of the New Democrat.
In its publication, under the captioned, “Saar Insurance Defrauds Clients”, the paper accused the company of “defrauding” and reneging to make 25% payment to some of its clients under the endowment insurance policy signed with the company.
In a press statement issued in Monrovia on Wednesday, Saar Insurance clarifies, that it has been fulfilling the timely and sincere payment of premiums and claims to thousands of its clients across the country, with the disbursement of over US$10,000 on a weekly basis.
The company disclosed that its endowment insurance policy, which was signed with employees and workers at some government ministries and agencies, runs from 10 to 15 years.
Under this policy, the company added that policy holders or clients received about 25% of their savings from the company after a five-year period, and the full sum assured (death benefits) is paid in the event of death while the policy is still active.
The amounts of between L$1,200 to L$2,000 are deducted from the monthly salaries of its clients or policy holders as premiums.
Saar Insurance pointed out that since 2021 it commenced the maturity payment of the 25% to its clients or policy holders under the endowment insurance policy scheme.
It disclosed that all clients from the ministries of Health, Education, Justice, the Judiciary, as well as the Liberia Immigration Service (LIS) and the Monrovia Consolidated School System (MCSS) who have regularly contributed for five years and submitted claims have been paid.
However, the company disclosed that the payment of 25% to few of its clients has been extended due to the failure of the previous Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) led-government, through the Civil Service Agency (CSA), to remit deducted salaries of clients (policy holders) into the account of the company from July 2019 to March 2020.
The CSA serves as a middleman between the insurer and the insured. The compulsory harmonization scheme introduced by the George Weah led-administration initially prompted a halt in the payment of the 25% to some of the clients that were no longer paying the monthly premiums through the Civil Service Agency.
As a result of the situation, few clients of Saar Insurance Company working at the ministries of Health, Education, Justice, and MCSS did not receive the payment of their 25% endowment insurance due to lapses in their payments for between three to nine months.
Saar Insurance said, though it notified the clients or policy holders about the situation through radio talk shows and meetings, the failure of the past government to deduct the amounts agreed upon in the policies of the insurers from their salaries on a monthly basis and have it remitted into the account of the company, prompted the extension of the 25% endowment insurance payment to few others for the period which they have not been paying.
The company indicated that the extension does not in any way imply that it is reneging on paying legitimate premiums to its clients as stipulated in the signed policies.
It described the New Democrat’s publication as a smear campaign intended to tarnish its outstanding reputation and image in the insurance sector of Liberia.
Saar Insurance emphasized that the newspaper wrongly quoted its Life Underwriter, Alexander G. Diggs, who did not speak on the record.
The company observed that the newspaper failed to also follow the ethics of journalism, which calls for the publication of accurate, balanced and credible reports or stories void of prejudice or bias.
Meanwhile, SAAR Insurance Company is calling on the management of the New Democrat to retract its fallacious story published against the company within 48 hours. The company threatened that it will not hesitate to take appropriate or legal action if the management fails to do so.