Cat Facility CCRIF Welcomes 2 New Members: British Virgin Islands, Montserrat

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CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility) announced that British Virgin Islands and Montserrat have joined the facility and purchased coverage for the 2018/19 policy year, beginning June 1.

Both countries obtained tropical cyclone and excess rainfall policies and the government of the Virgin Islands also purchased cover against earthquakes. CCRIF’s 19 members are composed of 18 Caribbean governments and 1 Central American government.

“The addition of these two countries to the risk pool is consistent with our current strategic direction which is geared towards scaling up the facility by adding new members, increasing products we offer and also encouraging members to increase coverage levels,” said Isaac Anthony, CEO of Cayman Islands-based CCRIF.

“Governments and citizens in the region have witnessed first-hand the impacts of extreme geophysical and climate events throughout the past decade – highlighted by Hurricanes Matthew, Irma and Maria in the past two years – and have been encouraged by CCRIF’s rapid response and payouts,” said CCRIF in a statement.

Since CCRIF’s inception in 2007, it has made payouts totaling US$130.5 million to 13 member governments, including US$83.6 million for Matthew, Irma and Maria, which accounted for 64 percent of the total. All 36 payouts to date have been made within 14 days of the end of the event, which is a core principle of CCRIF SPC. In some cases, partial payouts were made within seven days upon request by the recipient governments.

The two new members are joining CCRIF at a time when many countries are increasing their level of coverage, the organization explained.

While all existing member policies were renewed for the 2018/19 policy year, 12-member governments increased the value of their coverage limit by at least 10 percent for either tropical cyclone or excess rainfall policies, while two countries increased their coverage limits for earthquake.

“These countries all recognize that climate change is likely to exacerbate the impacts of hydrometeorological events – resulting in more frequent intense storms as well as greater variability in periods of excess rainfall and drought – and that the use of parametric insurance can be applied to strengthen their climate resilience,” said CCRIF.

CCRIF coverage is based on parametric triggers, which pays a fixed amount when a triggering event occurs such as pre-determined wind speed in a hurricane or an earthquake of a particular magnitude.

Source: CCRIF

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