Dear Claudienne

The service being provided by the National Housing Tust in respect of refunds for 2002 NHT contributions is very tardy. I applied online for my 2002 refunds on January 2, 2010 and was informed shortly afterwards that I would be notified when the refund was ready. Now more than a month and a half later, I still have not received my refund and attempts to find out what is happening through their landlines failed as there appeared to be problems with their communications system.

On one of the few occasions I was able to speak to a customer service representative, she told me that their system was down, so she could not access the information. The last time I attempted to call them, the automated answering system directed my call to customer service where I thought I would get a representative to address my request. Next I got a recording of the range of services offered by the Trust followed by a message that all the customer service representatives were busy, but I would get the opportunity to speak to one of them in a “few moments”. The few moments turned into over five minutes and still there was no opportunity to speak to anyone. Exasperated, I terminated the call.

I visited the office on February 22 and after waiting for over an hour to speak to a customer represenative, she checked my NIS number and informed me that there had been a problem with my NIS number. I told her I was aware and had made a second application and that the Trust had e-mailed me to the effect that the problem had been solved and I should expect to get a call from the remittance agency I had selected. She told me that this information was not on the system and I would have to re-apply. She said I would have a three-week wait.

When refunds were being processed at the Trust a few years ago, applications were addressed far more quickly compared to now, and one could reasonably expect the refunds to be ready within two weeks. Now even with the increased use of technology which should have made the job easier, the process seems to have been made considerably more difficult. At no time during my wait at the office was there any indication or admission that there was a bigger problems, although it was painfully clear that there was one. The distinct impression I got was that there had been prolems inputting the information online or that employers were not submitting correct information for employees, rather than that there was a foul-up at the NHT that was causing the unduly long delay.

Disgruntled

Dear Disgruntled

The NHT has asked Tell Claudienne to convey to you their apology for the difficulty you experienced in contacting them by phone as well as for the delay you encountered when you visited their office on February 22.

The NHT regretted that they were unable to check your application as you wished to remain anonymous. In regard to your complaint about the missed payment deadlines, the Trust said that at the start of the refund year in January, they had some system and data challenges that resulted in missed payment deadlines for some contributors. The NHT was also “unable to pay some contributors because information submitted on their application did not match data on NHT’s files,” and explained why contributors such as yourself were asked to resubmit their applications, the spokesman disclosed.

The NHT said that every effort was being made to clear the backlog. To date 37,494 contributors have been paid and the payments for 690 persons are overdue, the Trust said. The NHT said that it hoped to make the overdue payments by Friday March 5 “after which we will do our best to ensure that refunds are made within the time frame that contributors are given.”

However, persons whose records at the NHT are incomplete or inaccurate and who will need to submit documents to support their claim cannot be given a deadline for their refunds to be paid, the spokesman said.

“Normally, once the contributor supplies the required data, his/her record is updated and he/she is advised when to re-apply. While we make every effort to upddate contributors’ records speedily, we do not always do so as quickly as we would wish,” the NHT said.

The NHT said that from your complaint it appears that your records had not been updated up to the time you visited the office. Please contact the Trust via the e-mail address hrose@nht.gov.jm and provide your NIS number and a contact number, and they will investigate and remedy your problem.

Good luck.

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 511-2436 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