Members of the Bermuda Trade Union Congress (BTUC) will be eligible to receive insurance discounts starting next year.

Home Affairs Minister Michael Fahy announced in the Senate yesterday that, as a result of discussions with the Tripartite Economic Committee, five insurers have agreed to offer ten per cent discounts to union members on motorcycle, motor car and home insurance.

The insurers involved in the scheme are the BF&M Group of Companies, the Colonial Insurance Group of Companies, the Argus Group of Companies, the Kitson Group of Companies and Freisenbruch-Meyer Insurance Services Ltd.

“Some of the recommendations coming out of the Economic Tripartite meetings were for the shared sacrifice to extend beyond what the grocers and Belco were offering,” Sen Fahy said.

“To that end, I committed to following up with the local insurance companies to determine if there was anything they could do to assist the BTUC members in light of the grocers’ ten per cent discount initiative which is coming to an end in the first quarter of 2015 as announced in the most recent Speech from the Throne.

“As the chair of the committee, I met with the five largest local insurers of motorcycles, motorcars and home insurance over the past few months to determine what they could offer by way of financial relief for Government employees in the first instance.”

He said the companies agreed to offer a ten per cent discount to BTUC members for a period of two years starting on January 1. BTUC members will be required to show identification in order to receive the discounts.

Sen Fahy thanked the insurers for their willingness to assist the community, saying: “It is this type of commitment of shared sacrifice shown by the grocers, and in particular, the Lindo’s Grocery Stores, the MarketPlace Group of Stores, the Supermart on Front Street, as well as Belco and now the local insurers, that has convinced me that all of these companies are all taking Bermuda’s financial recovery extremely seriously. For that I am extremely grateful.

“To that end, I would challenge any other organisation out there to contact me if they wish to take part in any initiative that will not only help the BTUC members in these challenging economic times, but assisting residents generally as we are all in this together.”