The Government of Belize received $805,794 under one of The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) SPC’s Wet Season Trigger, a recently introduced policy endorsement.
From November 16th to 18th, the coastal area of northern Belize received rainfall due to Tropical Cyclone Sara, occurring after a period of significantly above the long-term average rainfall for the area.
Though the rainfall associated with TC Sara did not meet specific conditions to trigger the country’s excess rainfall policy, the combination of the two circumstances i.e. a particularly wet period that began on October 20th and the rainfall event during November, triggered the Wet Season Trigger endorsement of Belize’s excess rainfall policy.
Hon. Christopher Coye, Minister of State in Belize’s Ministry of Finance, stated, “The Government of Belize welcomes the timely payout generated under the Wet Season Endorsement attached to the CCRIF Excess Rainfall policy resulting from the passage of Tropical Storm Sara. Our response to recovery efforts will certainly be supported by this disbursement.”
In its 2023/24 policy year, CCRIF introduced three policy endorsements aimed at improving its ability to identify and provide coverage for events occurring under specific conditions leading to damage, but which would likely not trigger the main policy.
For Excess Rainfall Policies, the Wet season trigger (WST), introduces the ability to provide coverage for excess rainfall events occurring when the soil is saturated due to previous rainy periods, as it aims to effectively capture heightened flooding and landslides risks. The Localized event trigger (LET) is for extreme localized rainfall events.
In the case of Tropical Cyclone Policies, the Localized Damage Index (LDI) for tropical cyclone events where losses are highly concentrated in small sections of the country.
Isaac Anthony, CCRIF Chief Executive Officer, commented, “These endorsements have been welcomed by our members, given the increasing frequency, intensity, and unpredictability of hydro-meteorological events they are experiencing, which are likely driven by the changing climate.
“The WST endorsement has been meticulously engineered to identify excess rainfall occurrences during periods of soil saturation, a precursor to flooding and landslides, thereby addressing the augmented risk of infrastructure and community damage under such circumstances.”
Since the beginning of the 2024/25 policy year on June 1, CCRIF has made 14 payouts totalling over $122 million, including $84.5 million following Hurricane Beryl in July. Since its inception, CCRIF has made 78 payouts totalling almost $400 million.
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