National Pacific Insurance payment helps school rebuild

22 April 2018, 12:00AM

National Pacific Insurance (N.P.I.) recently settled an insurance claim for almost $340,000 with the Ministry of Finance for a devastating school fire. 

The fire destroyed buildings at Palalaua College, a government school in Siumu.  

N.P.I. is one of the Government’s preferred insurance providers for their schedule of assets, including cover provided for all government schools.

Joanne Rasmussen, General Manager of N.P.I. in Samoa, is pleased with the progress of the claim. 

 “We were very proactive in every aspect of this claim,” she said.  

“We were even the first ones to notify the customer, that being, the Government of Samoa through their insurance administrators the Ministry of Finance, that the school building was on fire when the N.P.I. Team saw what was happening via posts on social media.”

The fire occurred during the school holidays in early January. 

N.P.I. worked closely with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance and other parties such as the Fire Emergency and Services Authority (F.E.S.A.) and the Police Department to gather all necessary documentation and reports to help speed up the claims process.  

“We flew investigators and assessors from New Zealand immediately,” said Ms. Rasmussen. “Our customers in Samoa trust us to set things right for them and their communities and we wanted to get on to this claim as quickly as possible.” 

“It is after an event such as this that our customers and their communities need us most. In turn, I would like to especially thank and acknowledge F.E.S.A. and the Police Department for all their assistance with this matter.”

The claim was finalised on 13 March when two senior N.P.I. officers , Faalepo Solofa-Isitolo, Sales Manager and Raymond Tonumaipea, Claims Manager, presented the cheque for $339,979.40 to the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Finance, Lavea Tupaimatuna Lavea.  

 “We are delighted to hear from the Ministry of Education that a project team are now reviewing the plans to rebuild the affected school buildings,” said Ms. Rasmussen. 

 “N.P.I. is located across Tonga and American Samoa and has been part of the community in Samoa for over 40 years.  During this time I am proud to say N.P.I. has already helped many customers through fires and natural disasters, such as the recent Cyclone Gita.  We’re committed that support into the future and to continue working with our communities.”

22 April 2018, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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