Caribbean Catastrophe Insurance Fund Comes Shining Through

After several years of discussion and debate, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility was launched June 1, coinciding with the start of the 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season, which spawned Tropical Storm Barry in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida that very day.

The CCRIF provides participating Caribbean governments with immediate access to funds if the destination is hit by a hurricane or earthquake.

Funded by 16 Caribbean countries at present, along with the World Bank and other donor funding, CCRIF began operations with a claims-paying capacity of $110 million.

The fund, the first regional disaster insurance facility in the world, is operated by Caribbean Risk Managers, a division of the CGM Group, a Caribbean insurance company with offices in Barbados and Jamaica.

The genesis for the CCRIF came after the 2004 hurricane season, which caused heavy damage to Grenada and the Cayman Islands, in particular, amounting to twice their respective Gross Domestic Products.

At that time, several Caribbean heads of government approached the World Bank for assistance.

CCRIF participating countries include Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos.