Bermudian Leader Calls For Regional Insurance Pool

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

11 October 2004

Bermudian leader Alex Scott last week proposed the creation of a regional insurance pool to ensure that areas affected by future hurricanes are adequately protected and can cover the financial costs of reconstruction, according to the Royal Gazette.

Addressing the 18th annual Hawksmere International Reinsurance Congress on the island last week, Mr Scott noted that the succession of four hurricanes in a six week period has taken a disproportionate toll on the economies of small nations in the Caribbean.

With total damage in the Caribbean and south-eastern United States estimated at more than $2 billion, recent events demonstrate that for these smaller states, there is a need for access to affordable domestic insurance, stressed Mr Scott.

"Small nations need to insure against acts of God," he remarked, observing that most have lost "quantifiable areas of their gross domestic product to natural disaster".

The Bermudian Premier called upon “Bermuda’s innovative reinsurance thinkers” to create some form of sovereign reinsurance in partnership with governments so that Caribbean nations are better protected financially.

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