Hurricane Maria triggered a U.S. $19 million Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) SPC payout to Dominica under its tropical cyclone policy.
The payout brings the total figure for CCRIF payouts for this Hurricane Season so far to about $50.7 million.
The facility enables its 17 member countries, who pay an annual premium directly in proportion to the amount of risk transferred to CCRIF, to purchase coverage for each insured hazard of up to about $100 million.
CCRIF was designed as risk pooling facility to provide quick liquidity to governments of the Caribbean and Central America following catastrophic impacts from tropical cyclones, earthquakes and excess rainfall.
CCRIF CEO, Isaac Anthony, said; “While we are saddened by the devastation from both tropical cyclones Irma and Maria, we continue to be pleased to support our member countries in their time of need and are encouraged by the annual renewal of policies by our members.
“This provides some strong evidence that our model is a benefit to the region as well as a template that can be adopted and adapted by other regions of the world.”
In the following days the CCRIF will determine whether Dominica’s excess rainfall policy will be triggered by the hurricane.
The CCRIF is an ex-ante financing instrument that provides governments with immediate injections of liquidity, paid out within 14 days of the natural disaster; it ensures critical infrastructure can be quickly rebuilt and the most important humanitarian needs addressed, while protecting fiscal accounts.
