Insurance is a safety net for the future…says Gary DaSilva

By Terresa McCall
Reporter-SKNVibes.com

Gary DaSilva

Speaking with SKNVibes, DaSilva declared that just about 30 percent of the St. Kitts-Nevis population is insured and the remaining 70 percent is without that safety net.

The former Chairman of the Insurance Association of the Caribbean explained that while other areas of insurance are important, property insurance and life insurance are two forms of investment which should be made.

Specifically referring to property insurance, DaSilva explained that it is of supreme significance, especially since owning a home is the “biggest single investment” which most persons would ever make.

“In terms of general insurance and property insurance in particular in this country, we have a lot of persons owning their own homes. In a number of cases, owing your own home is the biggest single investment a lot of us would ever make and, with the frequency of hurricanes, storms, earthquakes and so forth, I think it’s very important that you protect that investment through purchasing insurance.”

Every young man, woman and couple, DaSilva stressed, should acquire some form of life insurance as a means of protection, particularly in cases where the breadwinner of the family is deceased.

“Take for instance, a situation where there are a husband, wife and children to be educated. It is already difficult with two salaries, and if the breadwinner is taken away you would want those children to remain in the same good neighbourhood with proper upbringing and so forth. If you don’t have those funds to fill in the gaps to ensure that the mortgage is continued and to ensure that those children’s education is taken care of, here is where I have seen life insurance coming into play.”      ~~Adz:Right~~

Although motor insurance is mandatory in the Federation of St. Christopher and Nevis, DaSilva noted that the amount of coverage one possesses must be adequate so as to provide for sufficient compensation to casualties of an accident. 

“I know it’s compulsory by law but, certainly, each and every one of us must ensure that we are adequately covered by insurance. Let us take for example, passenger busses…if they are not at all covered, you understand that if there is an accident, people can be maimed for life with no benefit at all. So, how do you go about feeling comfortable about yourself when you know that you may have been the cause of an accident and then you see someone who is being pushed around in a wheelchair because of your negligence, or even death to the breadwinner of a family for that matter? A lot of things can go wrong from that. If you take the breadwinner away, that can lead to delinquent children.”

St. Kitts and Nevis is one of the countries in which health insurance is not obligatory. DaSilva, who feels that this should not be, expressed to this media house his wish is that “there could be a system in this country where every single person is compelled to have health insurance, or that it would become compulsory.”

“You must understand what financial disaster can take place to any family because of the high cost of health care today. I assume some families really try their best to save money and that sort of thing; however, when it comes to health, that costs running and running and you are still in the hospital and the surgical bills are coming in. You can’t even get better because you are worrying about where the money is going to come from.”

The insurance pundit says he is aware that in the absence of insurance, some persons rely heavily on whatever benefits are to be had from Social Security. He however pointed out that these benefits amount to “just a drop in the bucket (as compared) to the cost of health care”, especially since “in a number of cases, you would have to go overseas because there are very good doctors here, but in terms of equipment and all specialty training that is required…air ambulance service, its costly. So, I feel very strongly that insurance would play a vital role”.