GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands, CMC – The chief executive officer of the Cayman Islands-based Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIFF SPC), Isaac Anthony, has described Hurricane Melissa, which struck Jamaica in October last year, killing 45 people and causing damage in excess of one billion US dollars, as the “most defining event” of 2025.
The head of the Caribbean and Central America’s development insurer and a global leader in parametric insurance, said Hurricane Melissa’s devastation across Jamaica and parts of the northern Caribbean underscored the accelerating climate risks facing the region.
He said that in response, CCRIF delivered US$91.9 million in payouts to the Jamaican government under its tropical cyclone and excess rainfall policies, the largest combined payout in its history.
“These funds were disbursed within our 14-day window, providing rapid liquidity to stabilize essential services, support vulnerable populations, and jump-start recovery efforts,” Anthony said, noting that the CCRIF’s work extended beyond payouts.
He said last year, all CCRIF members renewed their parametric insurance policies, bringing total coverage across the facility to US$1.44 billion, adding “this strong vote of confidence reflects the value our members place on CCRIF’s reliability, affordability, and speed of payouts, especially as climate extremes intensify”.
He said that the membership also “grew significantly,” standing now at 35 countries and utility companies across the Caribbean and Central America.
“This expansion strengthens the risk pool, enhances diversification, and reinforces CCRIF’s position as the world’s largest and most successful multi-country, multi-peril risk pool,” he said, adding that the CCRIF also made essential strides in sectoral protection.
Anthony said that in the wake of Hurricane Melissa, a category 5 storm, the CCRIF launched the Livelihood Protection Policy (LPP), extending parametric microinsurance directly to low-income and climate-exposed groups such as farmers, fisherfolk, market vendors, day labourers, amateur entertainers, and seasonal tourism workers.
“The LPP is expected to be rolled out in several countries across the Caribbean in 2026, starting with Jamaica. We also introduced our Runoff Model for fluvial flooding, expanding our product suite to address better inland flood risks, a growing hazard across the region.”
Anthony said that a significant achievement in 2025 was the completion of the CRRIF’s Strategic Plan 2025–2030, which sets out a bold vision for CCRIF as “the world’s leading development insurer, charting resilient, secure and sustainable futures”.
He said the plan outlines seven strategic objectives that will guide the CRRIF’s work over the next five years, from scaling microinsurance to five million low-income individuals, to exploring the use of, and leveraging AI to enhance our models and operations, to developing new products for sectors such as agriculture, housing, tourism, and renewable energy.
Anthony said that this year, the CCRIF remains focused on delivering rapid, reliable, and responsive financial protection to its members.
“We will continue to innovate, deepen partnerships, and expand access to parametric insurance, ensuring that the Caribbean and Central America are not only prepared for the next disaster, but positioned to recover stronger and build a more resilient future,” he added.
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