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Insurance News Friday 24th August 2007
No World Bank Insurance to cover Deans $2bn LossesStorm modelling company Eqecat Inc. said Wednesday, that insurer's bills for claims caused by losses as a result of hurricane Dean are likely to top $2bn. The Oakland based company said that Jamaica will see the majority of losses. Claims in Mexico, which saw two separate landfalls of the hurricane, are unlikely to exceed $250 million.Dean struck land in the Atlantic basin as a Category 5 storm with winds gusting up to 145mph, the first to do so since hurricane Andrew in 1992. It lost strength however as it travelled in land and is now classed as a tropical storm. Despite the magnitude of the losses, the World Bank?s initial estimates show that a new disaster insurance policy created in February, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility had not been triggered. This fund was established to give islands in the Atlantic basin immediate funds for rebuilding in the case of natural disasters and has had some 18 countries sign up since its creation. These include Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Haiti and St. Lucia. Francis Ghesquiere, a World Bank senior urban specialist said that "Jamaica avoided a major disaster and it was very close to triggering the facility," A number of thresholds including severity of the storm, are used to calculate whether a payout has been triggered. These thresholds were developed by the World Bank. Caribbean nations are estimated to have suffered $16bn in losses caused by hurricanes since 1979. Other Insurance Recent News and ArticlesImportant Guidelines For Choosing Your Health Insurance Provider » |
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