GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands, October 27, 2014 (AMG/PR) – The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) is preparing to make a payout of approximately US$500,000 to the Government of Anguilla under its excess rainfall insurance policy, as a result of heavy rains that affected the country during Hurricane Gonzalo. Gonzalo passed directly over Anguilla as a Category 1 hurricane on October 13, 2014, leaving behind flood-damaged buildings and communities in its wake.
Reports from the National Emergency Operations Centre indicated that there was flooding at the Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport and the Public Library and other areas in 3 of the island’s 14 districts.
Anguilla is one of eight CCRIF member countries that purchased excess rainfall coverage in June at the commencement of the 2014/15 policy year. The country also has a CCRIF tropical cyclone (TC) policy, which is based on modelled losses due to wind and storm surge, as part of its disaster risk management strategy. These modelled losses from TC Gonzalo were below Anguilla’s policy deductible and therefore their TC policy was not triggered. The excess rainfall policy however complements the TC policy, allowing Anguilla to be covered for two perils that often occur at the same time during tropical cyclones.
CCRIF excess rainfall product: Developed by CCRIF, Swiss Re and Kinetic Analysis Corporation (KAC), the excess rainfall product is aimed primarily at extreme high rainfall events of short duration (a few hours to a few days) whether they happen during a hurricane or outside of one. Like CCRIF’s tropical cyclone and earthquake insurance, the excess rainfall product is parametric, which means that a payout can be made quickly (within 14 days) after a rain event that triggers a country’s policy, without waiting for time-consuming damage and loss assessments on the ground. This product was launched by CCRIF in 2013.
This payout is the second payment the Government of Anguilla will receive from CCRIF. In 2010, CCRIF made a payout of US$4,282,733 to Anguilla under its TC policy following the passage of Hurricane Earl, which passed close to the island that August. CCRIF is working with regional partners, particularly the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), and local disaster management officials in Anguilla to collect on-the-ground information on the impacts of Hurricane Gonzalo.
About CCRIF: CCRIF is a segregated portfolio company, owned, operated and registered in the Caribbean. It limits the financial impact of catastrophic hurricanes, earthquakes and excess rainfall events to Caribbean governments by quickly providing short-term liquidity when a parametric insurance policy is triggered. It is the world’s first regional fund utilising parametric insurance, giving Caribbean governments the unique opportunity to purchase earthquake, hurricane and excess rainfall catastrophe coverage with lowest-possible pricing.
CCRIF was developed under the technical leadership of the World Bank and with a grant from the Government of Japan. It was capitalised through contributions to a multi-donor Trust Fund by the Government of Canada, the European Union, the World Bank, the governments of the UK and France, the Caribbean Development Bank and the governments of Ireland and Bermuda, as well as through membership fees paid by participating governments.
