The Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC), in partnership with WTW, a prominent global advisory and solutions provider, has announced the renewal of its insurance policies aimed at governments and government-related entities in Pacific Island nations. This initiative, which was unveiled this week, signifies a crucial step towards enhancing disaster risk insurance availability in the region.
The updated policy designs were developed by PCRIC with valuable input from WTW’s Disaster Risk Finance and Alternative Risk Transfer teams. According to PCRIC’s CEO, Aholotu Palu, this successful renewal will significantly enhance the company’s insurance offerings, filling a critical gap in the Pacific’s insurance market. He emphasized the importance of making insurance solutions accessible to governments and state-owned enterprises that deliver essential services.
As climate change exacerbates the frequency and severity of natural disasters, PCRIC’s insurance products will play an essential role in safeguarding populations, governments, economic infrastructure, and even coral reefs in the Pacific. Simon Young, senior director of Disaster Risk Finance at WTW, pointed out that the newly tailored approach emphasizes the needs of people and is designed to suit actual conditions on the ground.
Young also noted that the new simplified parametric insurance structures offer greater transparency in analytics, leading to improved confidence in climate risk assessments. These enhancements have resulted in lower reinsurance costs from a broader range of markets, enabling governments to manage disaster risks more effectively with PCRIC’s support.
For the years 2024 and 2025, PCRIC will provide insurance against tropical cyclones, heavy rains, earthquakes, and tsunami risks for the governments of six Pacific nations: Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, Tonga, Samoa, and Vanuatu, along with the state-owned telecommunications company PNG DataCo in Papua New Guinea and the Vatuvara Foundation in Fiji.
Overall, this initiative represents a hopeful advancement in disaster preparedness efforts within the Pacific region, ensuring that communities have the financial tools they need to recover from devastating natural events. By increasing access to insurance, PCRIC is working towards a more resilient future for these communities, even amidst the challenges posed by climate change.
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