Dear Claudienne

My cousin, who is a returning resident, badly needed a truck part (leaf springs) for a 1988 Ford Cargo truck that he had shipped to Jamaica six years ago when he returned home from England.

Since he came home, he has been using the truck to earn a living. The part could not be sourced in Jamaica, so he bought it in the United Kingdom.

He paid £144 for the two leaf springs and an additional £500 to have them sent by air in the interest of time.

On being informed by Customs that the shipment had arrived, he went to collect them but soon realised that he did not have enough money to pay the duty. He was shocked at the amount of duty Customs demanded and asked the customs officer several times if the figure he was quoted was correct.

He then borrowed money and paid duty of $100,347.62 to get the truck parts.

He said that the price he paid for the leaf springs was on a document that came from England with the goods and that Customs obtained the price of the goods from this document.

He is very disgruntled and feels that he has been taken advantage of.

How can duty of that magnitude be justified? He is an honest individual and is not rich. He just wants to earn a living in an honest way.

DB

Dear DB

Tell Claudienne asked the Customer Service Unit at Jamaica Customs Department to clarify how the charges for duty were arrived at. We received the following statement from Customs:

“After investigating the complaint regarding the amount of duty paid by the importer, we would like to inform you that the payment of $100,437.62 is correct. For clarification, we would also like to add that the airfreight charge on the Airway Bill is £1,185 and not £500 as stated by the importer. This would make a big difference in the amount to be paid for clearance as the import duty, tax and fees are calculated as a percentage of the cost, insurance and freight (CIF) value of the import.

“The CIF value for the truck part is £1,342.29 or $201,344.00. This comprised the cost of the truck part £144, insurance £13.29 and freight £1,185. The applicable rates would therefore be a percentage of $201,344.00. The rates and charges include: import duty at 20 per cent; environmental levy of 0.5 per cent; standard compliance fee, 0.3 per cent; customs user fee, $5,000; and general consumption tax, 21.5 per cent.”

Please advise your cousin accordingly.

Good luck.

Dear Claudienne

I applied for my National Insurance (NIS) pension over a year ago. When I called the head office late last year they said I would hear from them by early December 2012. I called them again in January, but they are still giving me the runaround.

I am not working and bills are piling up on me. Please check with them for me.

CF

Dear CF

The NIS claims manager has advised Tell Claudienne that your pension benefit was approved and the cheque mailed out on April 29.

Good luck.

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company: telephone 936-9436 or write to: Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e-mail: edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com. Please include a contact phone number.