Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC)

Established in June 2016, PCRIC is a result of region-wide efforts to address climate and disaster risks across 14 Pacific Island Countries (PICs). Catastrophe risk insurance for PICs began as a pilot in 2013 to 2015 through the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative (PCRAFI), which laid the foundation for a regional catastrophe risk pool to offer governments affordable parametric insurance. PCRIC is a captive insurance company owned by the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Foundation (PCRIF), which is directed by participating Pacific Island Countries. Initial capital funds were provided by the PCRAFI Program Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) with contributions from Germany, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom as part of InsuResilience - the G7 initiative on climate risk insurance. Key Facts about PCRIC • A regional entity owned by PICs to meet the demand for catastrophe insurance for governments to manage fiscal impacts of climate and geophysical hazard events. • Sovereign parametric insurance policies are offered for both tropical cyclone and earthquake/tsunami events based on a pre-selected trigger by the policyholder, or government, and designed to provide rapid-response emergency funds in case of a triggered event. • PCRIC creates a regional platform that PICs can leverage to explore additional products, such as coverage against additional perils such as drought and excess rainfall. • Has received significant support from international donors who have contributed capital supporting the existing insurance products. • Expertise is leveraged from key regional organizations, including the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS): SPC is supporting PCRIC in regional efforts to update the regional hazard and exposure database (PacRIS); PIFS coordinates with its members to convene high level political dialogue on disaster and climate risk financing and insurance needs.