Jamaica is set to become the first country in CARICOM with microinsurance legislation with a bill to be tabled in 2023. This was announced at the International Conference on Inclusive Insurance (ICII) which took place between October 24th and 28th at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston.
The hybrid Conference, hosted by the Insurance Association of Jamaica and the Munich Re Foundation in cooperation with the Microinsurance Network attracted over 250 international delegates from over 50 countries and saw strong momentum continue in the development of international inclusive insurance markets.
Sharon Donaldson, president of the Insurance Association of Jamaica, said: “We are delighted to hear that the inclusive insurance legislative framework will be tabled in 2023, and we hope it can be used as a template to mobilise our Caribbean partners to do likewise. As many of our insurance companies do business across the Caribbean it will set the stage for an expansion of inclusive insurance across the region and help reach scale in small territories.”
She added: “Inclusive Insurance is very important. Among the underserved populations of the world there are persons who are always, one flood, one fire, one death away from slipping back into poverty.”
Also announced at the conference was that the full Landscape of Microinsurance 2022 report will be launched in partnership with UNDP Insurance & Risk Finance Facility alongside the World Bank Spring Meetings in April 2023. The Landscape Studies serve as a unique global benchmark to track the closing of the people protection gap, along with financial and social performance indicators and emerging trends in the inclusive insurance sector.
Katharine Pulvermacher, executive director of the Microinsurance Network, said: “Having knowledge of best practices around the world supports our network’s efforts to make microinsurance propositions more affordable, scalable and accessible, and encourages more insurers to invest in the long-term development of new markets. Based on the preliminary findings of this year’s Landscape of Mircoinsurance research on 2021 data, this opportunity is still very much untapped: in the 34 countries covered, only an estimated 3% to 8% of emerging consumers – between 71m and 223m people – were reported as being covered by an inclusive insurance product in 2021.”
She added: “Encouragingly, it seems that overall customer numbers and premiums collected have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, respectively increasing by 93% and 40% compared to 2020 on a like-for-like basis. I look forward to launching the report next year and thank everyone who is supporting its creation.”
