Anumber of employees of Victoria Mutual Insurance Company (VMIC) and British Caribbean Insurance Company (BCIC), for which a plan to merge was announced in June, will be without work effective today.

Last Friday, the organisations sent a press statement saying that “operational redundancies have been identified and strategies to maximise efficiency are being put in place”.

“As a result of the reorganisation, a number of full-time employee positions from both firms will be eliminated as of October 31, 2010,” said the statement. “The company will be offering severance and career transition assistance to those employees directly affected by the restructuring.”

Peter Levy, who will head the merged entity and currently is the CEO for BCIC, said: “We regret separating from team members who have contributed to the success of both companies but it was necessary in order to create a structure for the combined entity. We have a unique opportunity to create added value for customers as we leverage the VMIC & BCIC brain trust to deliver strengthened products and processes to both our new and long-time clients.”

With insurance risk aggregates amounting to $150 billion, primarily in property, motor, liability and construction, the new BCIC will be the fourth largest general underwriter in Jamaica (based on 2009 Gross Written Premiums).

The merged entity will retain the BCIC name for the immediate future and will be owned 68.5 per cent by ICD and 31.5 per cent by Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS).

The board of directors will include representatives from both shareholder groups along with independent members and will be chaired by Joseph M Matalon (Chairman of ICD), with Michael McMorris (deputy chairman VMBS), as Vice Chairman.

One of the oldest insurance companies in Jamaica, BCIC is known for its market-leading innovations, including the ASSIST on the scene accident service. VMIC, formerly a subsidiary of VMBS, was established in 1990. In 2009, the company recorded the second-highest return on equity among general insurance companies operating in Jamaica.

Customers of both companies will continue to be fully covered under their existing policies and the respective companies will operate from their current locations until further advice.