But for the scrutiny by the Aviation Ministry, management of Dana Airlines and Prestige Insurance, some fake persons who had presented themselves as next-of-kin and relations of the victims of the June 3,2012 crash would have collected $100,000 each as compensation for the dead.
This would have led the airline into paying double the amount it would have paid genuine relatives, bringing more loss to an airline that has already lost a fortune after the crash.
“As much as we sympathise with the families of the deceased, you definitely would have such people coming forward to claim money they know does not belong to them because of poverty and probably, for lack of conscience and respect for the dead. That is why the insurance company and relevant agencies have to painstakingly scrutinise those parading themselves as next-of-kin but in the real sense, plan to defraud them before making any payment,” a stakeholder said.
BusinessDay gathered that over 50 persons may have come forward for multiple claims as this has caused in-fighting among family members as the insurance companies, Lloyds of London in conjunction with Prestige Assurance, could not immediately resolve to whom the compensation should be paid, they therefore deferred payment.
According to Aviation regulations, each of the victim is entitled to initial $30,000 immediately after the crash or within 30 days and another $70,000 after the 30 days.
“Problem started with the payment of the initial $30,000 compensation to families of the crash victims when multiple relatives started laying claims to the benefit of some victims,” a staff of the insurance company who preferred anonymity told BuisinessDay.
She said Prestige Assurance, the local underwriter’s job stops at paying its share of verified claims on the advice of the legal representative of the reinsurer, Lloyds of London, Yomi Osikoya & Co, which is the firm handling all the claims on behalf of its principal.
Explaining why they have had issues with paying the compensation as and when necessary, Stella Oduah, aviation minister, through Joe Obi, her spokesperson, said multiple claimants and litigations were major challenges.
She said the Federal Government was working to ensure that compensation is paid to legitimate next-of -kin.
“One of the greatest obstacles is that in some cases, you have multiple claimants and the greatest evil somebody can do to the deceased is to pay compensation to somebody that does not deserve or warrant it.
“We are taking our time deliberately to ensure that compensation is given to the right person; so in a situation where you have multiple claimants, you must make a deliberate effort to identify the legitimate next -of-kin.”
“We will continue to share the loss suffered by these families. Our heart and condolences go out to them. On the issue of compensation, like the Minister said last Thursday, all efforts are being intensified by the Ministry of Aviation and the Federal Government to ensure that every victim’s family is fully compensated according to the regulations and according to the law.
On court cases, she added: “the second aspect is the issue of litigation, as we speak; we have about 70 cases in court. Interestingly, some of these litigations are from members that have collected 30 percent and some 100 percent.
“The truth of the matter is that compensation is given to families that have fully verified their claims. It is a process. Interestingly, the Ministry of Aviation was able to secure some waivers from the Lagos State government in terms of making the processes of this compensation to be a little bit easier.
“So we have obtained some waivers. As the procedure is completed one after the other, every family that is fully verified is paid.
“As we speak, 30 percent of the compensation has been paid. The remaining 70 percent are still trying to get the rightful claimants identified. Once that is done, the compensation will be paid,” she said.
Jacky Hathiramani, managing director of the airline, said in Lagos that 23 families of the had been paid full compensation of $2.3 million ($100,000) each, also attributing the delay to multiple documentation.
Also, according to George Ossi, a permanent secretary in the Ministry of Aviation, at Saint Leo Catholic Church, “the airline fully insured all passengers, some families have been fully compensated. For the others there are family squabbles.
“Some (families) are in court. Some can’t agree on who will take the compensation. If they all had agreed, by now, we won’t be talking about compensation,” Ossi said.
Article Accerdited to: Businessday
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