By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

THE National Insurance Board has admitted to encountering “challenges” in its transition to a new IT platform, with some 30 per cent of its customer base negatively affected as a result.

NIB, in a statement released on Sunday, said “transition issues” emanating from phase two of the transitional process has resulted in “regrettable inconvenience to a number of our valued customers”.

The “greatest impact” has been felt by persons seeking disability benefit claims, along with customers seeking short-term benefit claims, such as maternity, sickness, injury and unemployment, NIB said.

The issues encountered by NIB encompassed both “technical matters and organisational culture adjustments,” the statement said.

NIB also acknowledged challenges with “other benefit types” however it said such issues “have been largely the exceptions.” Nonetheless, NIB said it expects its services to be normal by mid-June.

According to NIB’s statement, the organisation has been engaged in the process of transitioning to a new IT platform for the past several years.

Phase one of the transitional process involved the rollout of the new NIB smart card, which was launched in May 2014. The completion of phase two, the “most complex of the phases,” was scheduled for the first week in April of this year.

“As is common in projects of this magnitude, transition issues have been encountered with the final rollout of phase II resulting in regrettable inconvenience to a number of our valued customers,” NIB’s statement said. “The issues encountered encompass both technical matters and organisational culture adjustments.

“We note that the greatest impact has been felt by our customers in two areas in particular. Firstly, in relation to disablement benefit claims; and, secondly, in relation to short-term benefit claims (maternity, sickness, injury and unemployment) with some 30 per cent of these having been affected. We acknowledge also challenges with other benefit types; fortunately, such challenges have been largely the exceptions.”

NIB’s statement went on to “unreservedly apologise” to its affected customers, adding that it expects a “full normalisation” of its services to be restored within the shortest possible time.

“The public can be assured that we are working hard to resolve these issues along with our technology partner,” the statement said. “We anticipate that our services will be fully back on steam by mid-June 2016.

“We acknowledge the importance of our service and recognise the concern when such a vital service does not meet expectations. We also deeply appreciate the public’s patience and understanding as we work to improve the customer experience with NIB.

“The board of NIB is committed to full normalisation of our services in the shortest possible time. We will take all steps necessary to ensure that our services are normalised quickly. We will keep the public informed of progress during this time.”