Shocking! Less than a quarter of gov’t vehicles insured

Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley

Less than a quarter of government vehicles in the BVI are insured, Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has revealed.

The shocking disclosure prompted renewed concerns from Opposition legislator Melvin ‘Mitch’ Turnbull about compliance with local laws and the financial burden on taxpayers.

Turnbull questioned the Premier during the July 3 House of Assembly sitting about the current insurance policy for government vehicles, asking how many were insured and how much was spent on repairing uninsured ones over the past five years.

Dr Wheatley reported that there are 328 vehicles in the government fleet.

“Total number of those vehicles insured is 51. Total number of vehicles which are uninsured are 261,” Dr Wheatley stated.

He added that over the past five years, the government spent $1,036,811.50 on vehicle repairs, but only $1,401.61 on accident claims for uninsured vehicles.

Premier Wheatley explained that the government traditionally uses a self-insurance approach.

“With respect to the matter of uninsured government vehicles, it has long been the established policy of the government to self-insure the majority of its vehicle fleet,” he said. He added that ministries and departments are not prohibited from obtaining private insurance where budget permits and risk warrants it.

However, Turnbull challenged the rationale, citing previous discussions with officials from the Deputy Governor’s Office who indicated that the policy required all government vehicles to be insured.

“I asked the question about government vehicles and what is the policy… the panel responded and said the policy states that all government vehicles should be insured,” Turnbull argued.

Dr Wheatley acknowledged the inconsistency and said he would investigate.

“If there’s a policy, it’s expected that we should follow that policy. And if we don’t want to follow it, we should change it,” he stated.

Turnbull pressed further, questioning why the government would not follow the same legal standards required of private citizens.

“If it is indeed the law of this territory that every private citizen operating a vehicle on government roads should have insurance, why doesn’t the government follow its own law?” he asked.

Premier Wheatley said he would need to clarify the legal question before responding.