CCRIF Ready to Pay Haiti a little over US$20 Million Following Passage of Hurricane Matthew

CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility) is preparing to make a payout to the Government of Haiti as a result of the passage of Hurricane Matthew which triggered payments on the country’s Tropical Cyclone policy. Based on preliminary calculations, Haiti will receive a little over US$20 million – the largest payment ever made by CCRIF. This was revealed this afternoon by CCRIF Chairman Milo Pearson at the IMF/World Bank Group Annual Meetings. He also thanked the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for paying Haiti’s insurance premiums over the last few years in support of that country’s overall disaster risk management strategy, recognising the key role of risk transfer instruments. Since its inception in 2007, CCRIF has made a total of 15 payouts to 10 member governments totalling US$38.8 million, (see list) all within 14 days of the event. This payment will represent the 16th payout, which would make total payouts approximately US$58.8 million. This payment will be Haiti’s second payment from CCRIF. Recall that in 2010, following the devastating earthquake, CCRIF made a payment to the Government of Haiti of US$7.7 million, based on the terms of its Earthquake Policy. That payment represented the first inflow of direct financial assistance received by Haiti at that time. The Haitian government used the CCRIF funds to cover salaries of key emergency personnel, thereby “keeping the wheels of government turning.”