Manulife clients, employees in state of uncertainty
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian saying, "When two elephants fight, the deer in the middle will die", aptly describes the fate of customers and employees of PT Asuransi Jiwa Manulife Indonesia.
They find themselves in the middle of a two-year legal battle with the company's former partner and 40 percent stakeholder, the now defunct Dharmala group, which was declared bankrupt in 2000 and lost its stake in Manulife.
On Thursday, the Central Jakarta Commercial Court declared Manulife's local branch, PT Asuransi Jiwa Manulife Indonesia (AJMI), bankrupt after the caretaker of Dharmala filed the bankruptcy suit due to an unpaid 1999 dividend amounting to some Rp 22 billion that Dharmala believes it is owed.
While Manulife is in the process of filing an appeal to the Supreme Court, the fate of 400,000 insurers and 4,000 employees now appear to be hanging in the balance.
A housewife in Bogor who insured her daughter's education fund with Manulife was stunned by the news. Speaking on condition of anonymity, she claimed that she did not even know that Manulife had been declared bankrupt.
"I don't know what to do, I will have to check it first with my sister who works there," she told The Jakarta Post.
Realizing the need to insure the education fund for her four- year-old daughter, she bought an education endowment policy from Manulife upon her sister's recommendation. For the past two years, she has paid the annual Rp 2 million premium.
"My sister recommended Manulife to me because its one of the top insurance companies. How could I know it would go bankrupt," she muttered.
A media company employee, who also requested anonymity, said that he was surprised with the verdict, which he called a "ridiculous decision" but he said he was not worried about his policy.
A Manulife policyholder for two years, he had a policy which obliged him to pay an annual premium of about Rp 1.6 million (US$176) for the next 20 years.
"I don't have any plans. I will just wait and see," he said.
"This is Indonesia, we know how the courts work," he remarked, referring to the many alleged bribery cases that have come to light in recent years.
A similar wait-and-see attitude was also expressed by Manulife's employees, even though their fate is uncertain.
A 28-year-old man from the marketing department said he was disappointed with the court's decision, but he was sure that the company would win the appeal in the Supreme Court.
"We're getting used to this legal battle. Besides, so far, we have won three times. I'm confident we will win again this time," he said.
However, he admitted that he did worry about his future career. "I don't know. I haven't prepared to look for another job," said the employee of two years.