April 6, 2020

The National Insurance Board (NIB) is pleased to advise that it has made the first tranche of payments on Friday, 3rd April, 2020 to recipients of the Government Unemployment Assistance Programme for self-employed persons in the tourism sector impacted by the COVID-19 shutdown in the amount of $555,893.66.

Payments in the amount of $440,006.20 were made to 1,192 people via Direct Deposit. Additionally, cheques were being run for 302 people totally $115,887.46. NIB advised that where the recipient is in receipt of a pension, the weekly amount is deducted so that no more than $200 per week is paid to the individual for income support.

As at Thursday, 2nd April, 2020 NIB had received some 2,666 applications for the programme, 1,494 were approved and 943 were denied due to insufficient documentation. The remainder is still being processed. The majority of applicants supplied banking details to facilitate direct deposit payments. Persons who have had their applications denied, can reapply by attaching the necessary documents to the email notification received and their applications can be reconsidered.

On Tuesday, 7th April, 2020 NIB will open its application process to other self-employed persons outside of the tourism sector who were impacted by the mandated shut down. These persons will need to be registered with NIB and have a valid Business Licence.

NIB’s Director, Dr. Nicola Virgill-Rolle, and the Acting Financial Secretary, Mr. Marlon Johnson, thanked NIB’s staff for developing the new system in such a short time and for working to quickly adjudicate claims for this new special assistance programme.

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To apply for the Government Unemployment Assistance Programme for Self-Employed Persons impacted by COVID-19 in the tourism sector and by the Emergency Orders, visit https://uebrelief.nib-bahamas.com /selfemployed-form to apply online.

For more information regarding NIB benefits and the Special Government Assistance Programme, visit the NIB website under COVID-19 Updates link: www.nib-bahamas.com/NIB-BAHAMAS-COVID-19-Alerts.

Media Contact| Tonique Williams, Manager, Public Relations | tonique.williams@nib-bahamas.com