Barbados Home Affairs Minister Urges Homeowners to Consider Home Insurance Amid Hurricane Season Predictions

Home Affairs Minister Wilfred Abrahams has urged Barbadians who can afford home insurance to secure them against damage, especially in light of predictions of an overly active hurricane season – but firmly ruled out mandatory property insurance.

“The government would be wasting time to mandate private insurance,” he declared to journalists at a Department of Emergency Management news conference in Queen’s Park to provide an update on plans for the hurricane season. “There are some persons in Barbados who just cannot afford it. After Hurricane Elsa, we had to repair many uninsured homes. If we mandated private insurance, the same people would be in the exact same position.”

The minister emphasised the potential consequences of such a mandate: “We’d be criminalising people for things outside their control. Even with incentivised subsidies, there will always be a segment of the population unable to insure their properties. That’s the stark reality.”

He stressed the need for the government to explore ways to support these individuals in recovery efforts.

Reflecting on the aftermath of Hurricane Elsa, Abrahams warned it would be difficult for the government to undertake repairs on that scale again. “There will always be those below a certain income level who can’t do better, and we will have to cover them. But for those who can afford to insure their house and choose not to, they cannot expect the same level of government intervention,” he said.

“We are not in a crisis situation at the moment, but the government is not financially in a position to undertake what was done after Elsa again. That was one of the largest social investment exercises by any government of Barbados.”

An official of a leading insurer told reporters that home insurance levels were inadequate and suggested policyholders update their policies and premiums.

Donelle Belgrave-Young, assistant manager of insurance operations at Sagicor, urged insured homeowners to make the necessary adjustments to have their properties insured or brought up to satisfactory coverage.

“I don’t have direct numbers, but they’re not enough,” she said, noting that the damage from Hurricane Elsa highlighted the issue. “Many people did not review or adjust their insurance sums. Only about one to two per cent of our portfolio has seen increases in sums insured, despite our efforts to encourage risk assessments and valuations . . . . It is alarming that people are not heeding the message to increase their sums insured. The thought of having to tell someone they are not fully covered is what scares me the most.”