Six Caribbean countries to receive US$29.6M from risk insurance facility

-following Hurricane Irma devastation

The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) Segregated Portfolio Company (SPC) will make payments totaling US$29.6 million to six Caribbean countries impacted by Hurricane Irma under their Tropical Cyclone (TC) insurance policies.

According to a statement from CCRIF SPC in Grand Cayman, Hurricane Irma has triggered payments to the governments of, Antigua and Barbuda - US$6, 794, 875; Anguilla – US$6,529,100; St. Kitts and Nevis – US$2,294,603; Turks and Caicos Islands – US$13,631,865; Haiti – US$162,000, and The Bahamas – US$234,000.

The countries will receive the funds within 14 days of the event as mandated by the CCRIF’s operational guidelines, according to the CCRIF release. CCRIF will

continue to assess if more any excess rainfall (XSR) policies will be triggered by the rains from Hurricane Irma. The assessment for XSR policies takes a few days longer than the assessment for TC policies, which are based on wind and storm surge.

The payments due to Haiti and The Bahamas are based on the Aggregate Deductible Cover (ADC), a new policy feature which allows CCRIF to assist its members when modelled losses fall below the attachment point but where there are observed losses on the ground, according to the CCRIF release.

The CCRIF policies allow immediate access to liquidity, which is critical for countries post disaster urgent repairs and recovery activities, as compared to relief from the international community which can take between four to twelve months, the CCRIF release said.

CCRIF SPC is a segregated portfolio company, owned, operated and registered in the Caribbean. Between its formation in 2007 and 2016, the CCRIF facility made 22 settlements to ten member countries of approximately US$69 million. The Irma payments will push the total compensation to almost US$100 million.