Insurance questions Trinbagonians actually ask

No. The premium is the same whether you deal with the insurer directly or through us. Agents are paid a commission by the insurer out of that premium, not added on top of it. What you get for free is someone who knows your file, explains the wording, and chases the insurer on your behalf when something goes wrong.

A broker shops across many insurers. An agent represents specific insurers — in our case Guardian Life of the Caribbean and Guardian General Insurance. We're straightforward about that: we place your business with Guardian, and our value is knowing those products deeply and standing beside you when you need to use them. If Guardian genuinely isn't the right fit for something you need, we'll tell you so rather than force it.

Only if you want to. We work as a service-based agency — there is no branch counter to queue at. Most quotes and renewals are handled entirely by WhatsApp, phone and email. Some products, particularly larger life policies and commercial cover, are worth sitting down for, and in those cases we come to you: your home, your business, or wherever suits. Anywhere in Trinidad, and Tobago by arrangement.

Yes, free, with no expectation that you move it. Send us the schedule and we'll tell you plainly what it covers, what it doesn't, and whether the sums insured still make sense. Sometimes the answer is “this is a good policy, stay where you are” — and we'll say that.

Yes. At minimum, third party motor insurance is required by law for any vehicle used in a public place. Driving uninsured is an offence, and separately you become personally liable for the full cost of any injury or damage you cause — which in a serious accident can be life-altering.

Ask yourself one question: if your car were written off tomorrow and you received nothing, could you replace it? If yes, third party is a reasonable economy. If no — if losing the vehicle would mean losing your ability to work — comprehensive is doing a job that third party simply does not do at any price.

Comprehensive policies generally do; third party and third-party-fire-and-theft do not. Given how quickly water rises on parts of the road network here, this is one of the strongest practical arguments for comprehensive. Note that deliberately driving into visibly flooded roadway can affect a claim — check your specific wording with us.

The excess is the first portion of any claim you pay yourself. A higher excess lowers your premium because you're absorbing more of the risk. Choose the highest figure you could comfortably produce at short notice without borrowing — and no higher, because an excess you can't actually pay defeats the purpose of the policy.

Not on a private-use policy. If you're carrying paying passengers or making deliveries for money, the use must be declared and rated accordingly. A claim arising while the vehicle was being used outside the declared purpose can be refused outright — which is a very expensive way to save a small amount of premium.

Yes — notify, even if you don't intend to claim. Policies require you to report incidents, and the other driver may decide to claim against you weeks or months later. Notifying protects your position; it doesn't oblige you to make a claim or automatically cost you your no-claim discount.

Flood is a named peril on most local homeowner policies, so generally yes. What varies is the excess applied to a flood claim, whether your location attracts special terms, and whether contents are covered on the same basis as the building. Given our rainy seasons, this is the clause to read before you need it rather than after.

For what it would cost to rebuild at today's prices — not market value, which includes the land, and not what you paid for it. If you're insured for less than the full rebuild cost, many policies apply “average” and scale down even a partial claim proportionally. Construction costs have risen considerably; a sum insured set years ago is very likely too low now.

Your landlord insures the building; your belongings are entirely your own responsibility. If fire or flood destroyed everything in the unit, replacing furniture, appliances and electronics would fall to you. Contents-only cover is inexpensive and badly under-bought in this country.

Earthquake is standard on most T&T homeowner policies, reflecting where we sit geologically. Check the excess — earthquake excesses are frequently expressed as a percentage of the sum insured rather than a flat figure, which can make them substantially larger than you'd expect.

National Insurance provides a survivors' benefit and a funeral grant, which are real and worth having. But they were never designed to clear a mortgage, replace a salary for a decade, or put children through tertiary education. Work out what your household actually costs to run for a year, multiply by the years your family would need, and compare. The gap is usually large.

A common starting point is outstanding debts plus several years of household running costs, adjusted for what your family already has. There's no universal multiple — a single person with no dependants needs very little, while a sole earner with young children and a mortgage needs a great deal. We'll work it out against your actual numbers in about fifteen minutes.

They answer different questions. Term buys the largest possible payout for the smallest premium during the years your family is most exposed — young children, a mortgage. Whole life costs more but never expires and builds cash value. Many people end up with a large term policy for the vulnerable years plus a smaller permanent one for final expenses.

Usually yes. Well-managed chronic conditions are extremely common here and insurers underwrite them as a matter of routine — typically at a higher premium rather than a refusal. What matters is full disclosure. A condition concealed at application can void a claim years later, which is the worst possible outcome for the family you were trying to protect.

Health insurance pays medical providers — hospital, surgeon, pharmacy. Critical illness pays you a lump sum on diagnosis, to spend however you need: mortgage payments while you can't work, help at home, a relative's lost income, travel for treatment abroad. A serious illness generates both kinds of cost, and only one of them is a medical bill.

It's a valuable benefit with two limits. The sum assured is often a modest multiple of salary that falls short of real need, and the cover generally ends with the employment — including at resignation, redundancy and retirement, which is often exactly when your health makes new cover harder to obtain. A personal policy is yours regardless of who employs you.

Premiums on an annuity approved by the Board of Inland Revenue are deductible, but as part of a combined allowance — your approved pension contributions, annuity premiums and NIS contributions are aggregated and capped at an annual limit. Premiums above the cap get no relief. The cap has been revised over the years, so confirm the current figure with the IRD or your tax adviser before setting a contribution level.

Typically at a retirement age you nominate, commonly somewhere between 50 and 70. At that point the accumulated fund provides your retirement income, often with the option of taking a portion as a lump sum where the rules allow and using the balance to provide a regular pension.

Talk to us before you stop paying rather than after. Depending on the contract there may be options to reduce the contribution, take a premium holiday, or make the policy paid-up. Simply letting it lapse is almost always the worst of the available outcomes — and it's avoidable.