CCRIF SPC, the Cayman Islands segregated portfolio company that pools catastrophe risk for Caribbean and Central American governments and public utilities, will pay US$17.4 million to the Government of Panama after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake triggered the country’s parametric earthquake policy.
Panama purchased the cover through the Fondo de Ahorro de Panamá. CCRIF SPC says the payout will be made within 14 days of the event.
The earthquake struck on 9 October at 12:56 local time (17:56 UTC), with its epicentre near Pitaloza Arriba on the Azuero Peninsula. Using its SPHERA earthquake model, CCRIF SPC estimated peak ground acceleration of up to 0.5 g in Panama, the only member country to experience shaking above the model’s 0.03 g reporting threshold. Modelled government losses exceeded the attachment point of the policy.
A report from Panama’s National Civil Protection System (SINAPROC), dated 12 October, records damage to homes, schools, hospitals, public buildings and roads in various provinces, with 656 schools affected and 14 shelters opened, housing 598 people. No deaths or missing persons had been reported when the report was finalised.
Isaac Anthony, chief executive officer of CCRIF SPC, says: “This payout will give the Government immediate liquidity to support its response at the time it is most needed. Panama’s decision to secure its CCRIF earthquake coverage through the Fondo de Ahorro de Panamá is a strong example of how parametric insurance can work alongside national savings and stabilisation mechanisms as part of a layered approach to financing disaster risk.”
Panama joined CCRIF SPC in 2018 and has received three previous payouts, for excess rainfall linked to Hurricane Eta in 2020 and for exceptional rain events in 2024, totalling approximately US$29 million. The earthquake payout takes the total to approximately US$47 million.
With the Panama payment, CCRIF SPC will have made 83 payouts to its members since its inception in 2007, totalling more than US$500 million.
CCRIF SPC, formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility, is a not-for-profit, multi-country, multi-peril risk pool serving 40 member governments and public utilities. It operates as a captive insurance company owned by a trust and is licensed by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority as a Class B insurer, writing its cover through six segregated portfolios. It retains part of the risk transferred by members and cedes the remainder to the reinsurance market.
CCRIF SPC received the Captive Insurance Companies Association’s Outstanding Captive Award in 2013.
