CCRIF parametric payouts reach $266.8m after $4.9m for 2023 Atlantic storms

The CCRIF SPC (formerly known as the Caribbean Catastrophic Risk Insurance Facility) made three payouts on parametric insurance policies to member governments from storms in the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season, taking the total it has paid out to almost US $266.8 million since its inception.

Three payouts totalling US $4.9 million were made for storms that occurred during the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season.

Previously, the CCRIF SPC had disclosed making roughly US $3.4 million in payouts to the governments of Antigua and Barbuda and the British Virgin Islands after tropical storm Philippe in early October triggered their parametric insurance policies for Excess Rainfall.

Now, the parametric insurer has disclosed a third payout for the 2023 hurricane season, again made to a country that experienced a significant rainfall event from a tropical storm.

During the current year’s season, Antigua and Barbuda received US $2,880,424 and the British Virgin Islands US $552,297, both for parametric rainfall insurance triggered by storm Philippe, while St. Kitts and Nevis received US $1,509,804 that seems to be after its parametric rainfall insurance was triggered by tropical Cyclone Tammy in November.

So, 2023 Atlantic hurricane season payouts from CCRIF SPC’s parametric policies were all due to rainfall and totalled roughly US $4.9 million.

Which means that, since CCRIF’s inception in 2007, the Facility has now made 63 payouts to 17 member governments in the Caribbean and Central America against their parametric insurance policies, totalling US $266,775,251.

CCRIF payouts have now benefitted more than 3.5 million people across the Caribbean and Central America since its launch.

62% of the CCRIF parametric insurance payouts have been for immediate post-disaster activities, such as providing food, water and medicines to the most vulnerable, clearing roads, or reparing important infrastructure.

14% have been for long-term infrastructure work, 9% to boost the national budget of an affected country, 6% for risk mitigation and resilience, 6% to economic sectors such as agriculture and 3% to capitalise specific disaster recovery funds for governments.

While payouts have not reached a significant sum this year, the CCRIF has continued to expand its membership and range of parametric insurance products in 2023, so becoming an increasingly important disaster risk transfer facility for the region and continuing to grow its risk pool.

Recall that, CCRIF alongside the other main sovereign parametric risk pools from around the world, signed an MOU this year that will see the group explore a joint reinsurance facility, to facilitate their access to the capital markets.