The government must find a way to pay all CLICO policyholders in full and avoid this issue from reoccurring in the future, according to attorney Paul Moss, who represents several CLICO policyholders who have waited to get paid since the insurance company shut down nearly 10 years ago.

CLICO went into liquidation back in 2009 and left about 13,000 Bahamian policyholders unsure of their future and clueless as to whether they would ever get back the money they invested for many years.

Last week, hundreds of Bahamians lined up at Holy Cross Activity Center as some CLICO policyholders, who were eligible for payouts, received up to $10,000, while others walked away disappointed because they did not receive the funds they waited years for.

According to the manager of CLICO on Mount Royal Avenue, Vaughn Culmer, about 4,800 people qualify for payouts.

Moss said although he is pleased that the entire CLICO ordeal seems to be coming to an end, he is not pleased that it took so long for the government to find a resolution and thousands of people were still turned away from getting their money during the payout process.

"I'm happy that it's coming to a closure, but this happened a long time ago and should've been handled years ago," Moss said.

"Last year, we met with the prime minister and he indicated that CLICO matters would be resolved by the end of 2015. He also indicated that they would've been able to pay policyholders by virtue of the establishment of a new insurance company.

"I'm not terribly pleased that it has taken this long for these things to happen because many people who were waiting to receive their funds weren't able to benefit from it."

Moss did not reveal the names of the policyholders he represented, but said as their attorney he witnessed several of his clients get sick and even die before payouts were made.

"Many people died, some people got sick and were denied medical care and others just could not maintain the usual practice of making those payments, so those people will not benefit and did not benefit and that is sad," he said.

One policyholder told The Nassau Guardian last week that he invested nearly $500,000 into the company.

Moss renewed a call for the government to launch an investigation into the CLICO matter to figure out exactly how it happened and how it could be avoided going forward.

"Hopefully this matter could come to an end and hopefully the government could see the need to launch an investigation to ascertain how this is able to happen and put measures in place to stop it from happening again," he said.

Moss said he believes the government's incompetence is to blame for the issue being prolonged.

"I could say very easily that it is and was incompetence," Moss said. "I think that is part of it and I also think it was probably a way to figure out who may be responsible for these issues."

Last month, during his mid-year budget contribution in Parliament, Prime Minister Perry Christie revealed that CLICO payouts are estimated at $16 million.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian