Cost of Living

Lowering the Cost of Living

With our remarkable economic growth, we are experiencing a startling high cost of living. While many of the root causes are outside the Cayman Islands, and the recent tariffs will likely worsen global inflation, TCCP will take immediate action to ease the cost of living by working to lower the cost of housing, electricity, food, insurance and health care.

Lowering Electricity Bills

More efficient homes and use of renewable energy benefits our pockets as well as the planet.

Relying on imported fuels like diesel leaves us vulnerable to global price volatility. The long term goal is to enhance the production of renewable energy on the island. As an interim measure, transitioning to liquified natural gas (LNG) will reduce costs swiftly and efficiently and serves as a stepping stone towards our overarching goal of meeting and exceeding our renewable energy targets. This dual approach will balance immediate economic benefits with our commitment to a greener, more sustainable environment.

To help lower our electricity bills, we would take the following steps:

• Facilitate Government, OfReg and CUC working together to prioritise the phased implementation of transitional fuels as outlined in the National Energy Policy
• Expand programmes and regulations to make homes more energy-efficient, which will lower electricity bills
• Incorporate rooftop solar where possible, develop community-scale rooftop solar solutions, and allow community members to benefit
• Assess how the government can provide policy guidance and implement measures that help CUC accelerate its transition to utility-scale renewable energy
• Review the fuel duty calculation method and consider charging duty by invoice cost and not volume
• Consider using the covered landfill site as a solar farm to accelerate transition to renewable energy

Cost of Food

To reduce our weekly grocery bills, we need to attack the problem on multiple fronts:

• Expand the list of foods eligible for zero duty, including healthy and organic foods
• Facilitate local suppliers importing food from other lower cost jurisdictions in the region, such as Jamaica, Belize, Panama, Dominican Republic and Mexico
• Encourage community cooperatives to engage in bulk buying to lower food costs to families and individuals
• Ensure grocery prices reflect any reduction in electricity bills to benefit consumers
• Expand local food production by dedicating land parcels to community farming and facilitating backyard farming

Cost of Insurance

Insurance – both health and property – is a growing burden for many Caymanians. While we can’t control global insurance markets, we can take smart, proactive steps locally to improve fairness, increase competition, and reduce costs for residents.

Health Insurance

To make health insurance more affordable and secure meaningful coverage for all residents:

• Reform the Standard Health Insurance Contract (SHIC) so that it provides real access to care, including mental health and prescription coverage
• Encourage insurers and employers to provide free preventative care and wellness programmes
• Introduce a tiered national health insurance plan that guarantees basic coverage for all, while allowing private options for those who want more.
• Improve transparency of insurance process, clarifying policy coverage and simplifying the claims process
• Ensure individuals, employers and employees have a wider range of group policy options to choose from

Property Insurance

To reduce the cost of property insurance and make it more accessible to homeowners and renters:

• Explore government-backed reinsurance options to reduce the cost of catastrophic risk passed on to consumers.
• Modernise building codes and offer incentives for storm-resilient construction, helping to lower insurer risk and premiums.
• Work with regional partners to develop pooled reinsurance arrangements that reduce the overall cost of coverage.
• Improve regulation and transparency in how property insurance rates are set and claims are handled.

In addressing the cost of living, some of these steps will be taken immediately to help those already struggling to pay bills while others are part of a longer-term strategy to redress the balance and prevent those with lowest incomes from being impacted hardest.