House regulations panel adopts fix to restore motor vehicle insurance in fee schedule

The Regulations Committee of the House of Parliament met on June 23, 2026, to consider a technical correction to insurance industry fee regulations after officials found that motor vehicle insurance had been left out of a revised schedule.

The committee opened with prayers led by Member Morris. Apologies were recorded for Members Crawford, Hamilton, and Buchanan. At the suggestion of Member Paulwell, the panel moved ahead to the substantive item on the agenda before returning to confirm minutes from the April 16, 2026 meeting.

Representatives from the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of Finance told the committee that the Insurance Amendment of the 20th Schedule Number Two Regulations 2026 replaces the previous 20th schedule under the Insurance Regulations of 2001. The updated rules set revised annual industry fees and introduce a new method for calculating those fees for life and general insurance business.

An inadvertent error was later identified in the amended schedule. In the column listing classes of insurance business, the second and third entries from the bottom were wrongly duplicated as accident insurance. That duplication meant motor vehicle insurance was omitted from the table.

The amendment now before the committee seeks to correct the schedule by removing the first duplicated reference to accident insurance and inserting motor vehicle insurance in its place. Officials said the prescribed fee of $100,000 for motor vehicle insurance and accident insurance for Jamaica and CARICOM companies and foreign companies had already been reviewed by the committee under the earlier regulations, so no further fee change was required.

The correction restores the omitted motor vehicle insurance class and is intended to keep the schedule complete and accurate. It does not change the fee structure the committee had already approved.

Member Colonel Borel described the matter as straightforward and moved that the committee adopt the resolution. The motion was seconded and approved without objection. The panel later confirmed the minutes of its April 16 meeting, reported no matters arising, and agreed that the date of its next sitting would be set by referral from the House. The meeting was adjourned on a motion moved by Member Murray and seconded by Member Powell, with the committee’s report to be prepared for tabling in Parliament.