CelsiusPro & NZ insurer Tower partner on parametric Pacific cyclone cover

CelsiusPro AG, the Swiss headquartered weather index insurance and parametric risk transfer specialist, and New Zealand based primary insurance group Tower are partnering to deliver parametric cyclone insurance to Pacific nations.

The partnership sees CelsiusPro helping to upgrade Tower’s IT platform for its Cyclone Response Cover, an existing parametric insurance product that provides Pacific policyholders with a rapid cash payout when their house, or other insured location, is affected by a high wind-speed cyclone event, regardless of damage.

Using CelsiusPro’s White Label Platform (WLP) solution, a bespoke distribution platform will be created for Cyclone Response Cover, providing Towers customers with features such as an online premium calculator, monitoring and settlement, mobile capabilities, and offer and policy generation.

Mark Rueegg, CelsiusPro Group’s CEO, explained, “Parametric insurance is a scalable solution to narrow the protection gap, an acute concern in the Pacific. The partnership with Tower highlights the importance of the Pacific region for the CelsiusPro Group, as climate technology, data science, and risk modeling can help people build resilience.”

Ron Mudaliar, Tower’s Chief Underwriting Officer, added, “Communities in the Pacific are seeing how innovation can change the way they interact with their insurance. This partnership with the CelsiusPro Group demonstrates Tower’s commitment to providing innovative products to accelerate viable and sustainable adoption of parametric insurance in the region.”

The new CelsiusPro powered IT platform is expected to maked it simpler for Tower customers to access and manage their parametric cover.

Tower’s Pacific cyclone parametric insurance product was first piloted in Fiji for the 2022/2023 cyclone season in collaboration with United Nations Capital Development Fund.

It later partnered with Fiji Development Bank and following a successful pilot, Cyclone Response Cover is now available to all Fijians.

For the 2023/2024 cyclone season, Tower is looking to expand the product to cover Tonga as well, partnering with Tonga Development Bank to pilot the cover there.

Future plans will see Tower looking to offer the parametric cyclone insurance product in all relevant territories it operates in.