Dear Editor,

I was recently in a discussion where I was told that if an insured vehicle gets into an accident on an ungazetted road (most of the roads in hinterland locations) that the insurance company is not liable for expenses incurred. I don’t know if it was a comment made out of ignorance of the law or if it was indeed true.

However, it started me thinking that if indeed this information was correct then some of the requirements set out by our traffic laws are ambiguous. If an insurance company is not going to honour a premium due to the unofficial status of some of our roads then insurance should not be a requirement for vehicles that traverse the ungazetted roads alone. This could be applicable to area like Lethem where none of the roads are gazetted. Many vehicles move from Lethem to other areas in the Rupununi without ever going to Georgetown. If their insurance policy is not going to be honoured in case of an accident then what use is it to take out an insurance?

It would serve the general public, and especially users of ungazetted roads, to know of the exact status of vehicle insurance as it relates to any possible accident on these types of roads.

Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)

Editor’s note

We were advised by a leading insurance company that no distinction is made between ‘gazetted’ and ‘ungazetted’ roads; the insurance applies once the road is in Guyana.