KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Jamaica government says it will table in parliament before the end of the 2021-22 fiscal year, a Micro insurance Bill, as part of the efforts to broaden the base of the economy and deepen its inclusiveness by making insurance accessible to all Jamaicans.
Dr. Nigel ClarkeThe 2021-22 fiscal year ends on March 31, next year and Finance and Public Services Minister, Dr. Nigel Clarke said he anticipates that the legislation will be passed in the Parliament during the 2022/23 fiscal year, which starts on April 1, next year.
“The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service has been working with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and the Attorney-General’s chambers to bring this legislation to life. It is, therefore, my expectation that micro insurance will become a reality in Jamaica at some point in the next fiscal year,” he told the Insurance Association of Jamaica (IAJ) semi-virtual micro insurance conference.
Clarke said development and implementation of a micro insurance policy framework formed part of the government’s thrust to broaden the base of the economy and deepen its inclusiveness by making insurance accessible to all Jamaicans.
He said insurance provides financial resources to offset known and unknown risks which was crucial, whether in relation to property, life, or any other area.
But he noted that with the legislative framework anchored in the existing Insurance Act, it “does not easily allow for micro insurance products to be developed, marketed and sold”.
“To make insurance available to informal commercial importers, to small enterprises and small firms, to persons on the lower end of the income scale, it would be necessary for risks to be pooled so that the insurance product can be affordable.” Clarke said however, that the Insurance Act “doesn’t easily allow for the pooling of risks because of the requirements that one has to have an equitable interest in what is being insured”.
As such, he said the government is taking steps to put the provisions in place that facilitate the development, marketing and sale of micro insurance products in a “wholesome” way, particularly to the target cohorts.
He said that for the industry to thrive among Jamaicans, it must, among other things, “serve the needs [of] the hundreds of thousands of persons who fall outside the financial services window… for those persons to be brought in.
“The Government is serious about inclusive economic recovery. Therefore, we are taking steps to enhance the policy environment and the legislative framework to bring hundreds of thousands… of the uninsured into the formal financial services space where they, too, can have access to insurance products,” The Finance and Public Service Minister added.
