The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) will make a $44mn payout to the Government of Grenada – its single largest payout to date – following the passage of Hurricane Beryl.
The CCRIF said it expected to make 10 payouts for Beryl totalling just over $75mn over the next few days.
In addition to the $42mn given to Grenada, the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines will receive $1.8mn, while the Government of Trinidad and Tobago will receive $372,752.
This will take total payouts made by the CCRIF to roughly $350mn since its inception in 2007.
CCRIF CEO Isaac Anthony said payouts were available “within 14 days of a triggering event”, adding that parametric insurance was a key component in helping nations “build back better and stronger to withstand future natural hazards, especially within the context of climate change”.
The CCRIF’s parametric insurance policies make payments based on the intensity of an event and the amount of loss caused by an event, calculated in an agreed model.
Parametric insurance products are in place for tropical cyclones, excess rainfall, earthquakes and the fisheries, electric utilities and water utilities sectors.
Of the $44mn payout, around $42.4mn was triggered because of tropical cyclone activity, while just over $1mn was paid out after triggering the COAST fisheries policy and $548,850 due to excess rainfall.
The CCRIF said Beryl “totally devasted” 90% of all buildings, including the airport, hospital, homes and gas stations, on the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinque that comprise the State of Grenada.
Significant damage was also caused to the agriculture sector and natural environment, while electric transmission and distribution systems were damaged on both islands.
Beryl is expected to cause industry losses between $800mn and $1.2bn, according to Andrew Siffert, senior meteorologist at BMS.
Steve Bowen, chief science officer at Gallagher Re, predicts the event could be a “multi-billion-dollar cost”.