Trinidad and Tobago’s National Insurance Board (NIBTT) has had to draw on investment income to cover a shortfall of more than TT$1 billion in benefit payments.

Appearing before the Parliamentary Joint Select Committee (JSC) on Finance and Legal Affairs on April 17, NIBTT executive director Niala Persad-Poliah said the organisation paid out TT$6.6 billion in the last financial year ended June 2025, while collecting just over TT$5 billion in contributions.

The Joint Select Committee is examining the accessibility, responsiveness and service delivery performance of the National Insurance Board of Trinidad and Tobago.

She told the committee that approximately 230,000 people received monthly payments during the period, of which 226,618 were long-term benefits. 

She added that the NIBTT processed about 42,000 claims for benefits such as maternity, pensions and death benefits in the 2025 financial year, consistent with its usual annual range of 42,000 to 45,000 claims.

Persad-Poliah also reported that the NIB Fund currently stands at TT$27 billion. She said just over 600,000 people are active contributors to the fund.

In addition, between 14,000 and 15,000 businesses make monthly contributions, while the NIBTT has approximately 18,000 companies on its records.

The issue of the NIBTT paying out more in benefits than it collects has persisted for several years.

In its 2024 financial statements, the 54-year-old institution paid out TT$6.5 billion while receiving TT$4.74 billion in contributions.

Then Finance Minister Colm Imbert told Parliament, after laying the report, that the fund’s investment portfolio had declined by TT$950 million, or 3.38 per cent, to TT$27 billion at the end of June 2024.

Persad-Poliah said she was grateful for recent policy and structural changes which aimed at strengthening the organisation’s long-term position. These include increases in contribution rates and adjustments to the retirement age.

On the administrative side, Persad-Poliah told committee members that NIBTT operates a “very lean ship” and is “cost conscious” with its operational costs of TT$286 million, which represents about five per cent of year contributions.

She also urged workers to retain their TD4 tax forms, warning that payroll discrepancies remain a significant issue due to inaccurate employer submissions that are affecting contribution records and benefit calculations.

She told lawmakers that the accuracy of contributions depends heavily on employer reporting each month, but said recurring errors continue to affect data quality.

“We rely heavily on the accuracy of the data from employers,” she said. “Every month, employers are asked to submit a 184 form detailing employee information and income, accompanied by a 187 form, which is the payment form.”

However, she said a large number of submissions continue to contain incorrect or incomplete details.

“What we have seen, Chair, is that from the vast majority of our employers, we would have seen incorrect data coming into the NIB. The current insurance administration system digests that incorrect data. We have seen incorrect NI numbers, incorrect names, missing dates of birth, a suite of incorrect information coming into the NIB.”

She explained that when errors are detected, the data cannot be properly matched to contributors and is placed into an error file for further review.

“When that happens, the contribution statement is not accurate. Every year, you are supposed to have 52 contributions per annum. If the information is incorrect, contributors come to the NIB saying their contributions are missing.”

As a result, she urged workers to keep personal records for verification purposes.

“We are asking customers, as an alternative, to have your pay records and TD4s,” she said, noting that these documents can help resolve discrepancies.

Persad-Poliah noted the 54 year old organisation operations on a long-established, largely paper-based system that is still undergoing modernisation.

She said the rollout of a new electronic system called EMPOWER is expected to improve efficiency and reduce recurring data issues.