The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Reduction Facility ( CCRIF) SPC said it will make a payout of approximately US$40 million to the government of Haiti following the devastating magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck the French Caribbean country on August 14, 2021, significantly impacting the city of Les Cayes.

This payout represents the full coverage limit under the country’s parametric insurance policy for earthquakes for the 2021/22 policy year. As CCRIF’s insurance policies are parametric, payouts are made within 14 days of an event. To begin to support the people of Haiti as quickly as possible, CCRIF will provide a first tranche of US$15 million to the government within one week of the event and the remaining amount of approximately US$25 million within the 14-day window, to allow for the independent verification of the model results.

CCRIF will continue to provide earthquake coverage to Haiti for the remainder of the policy year which ends on May 31, 2022, under a special feature of the earthquake policy known as the Reinstatement of Sum Insured Cover (RSIC). The RSIC, introduced by CCRIF in 2017, provides access to coverage after the maximum coverage limit of a country’s earthquake or tropical cyclone coverage limit has been reached.

This current payout to Haiti will represent CCRIF’s largest single payout to date. Since the Facility’s inception in 2007, it has made 53 payouts totalling US$242.4 million to 16 of its 23 members. Of these, Haiti has received five payouts totalling US$78.3 million (32 per cent of total payouts).