PCRIC – Page 32 – Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company

For the times when citizens expect and need the most

PCRIC is owned for the benefit of the island nations of the Pacific and is a specialist provider of disaster risk finance services and solutions to the region.

We deliver a program of support built on leading-edge technical assistance, targeted collaborations, and innovative product options. Our aim is to help nations better prepare, structure and manage finances to foster disaster resilience and ensure rapid access to funds when they are needed .

CEO's Speech

Internships

Product Offerings

Future Products

THE PROBLEM

PICs are highly exposed to adverse natural events, including tropical cyclones, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis which can result in disasters affecting their entire economic, human, and physical environment.

Fiji 2020 TC Harold

180,000+ people affected

Fiji 2020 TC Yasa

93,000 people affected

Fiji 2021 TC Ana

More than 2,000 people evacuated

Kiribati 2022 drought

120,000 people affected

Tonga 2022 volcanic eruption & tsunami

Economic damage of approx US$90.4 million

PNG 2023 earthquake

Over 874 homes damaged/destroyed

Samoa 2023 floods

Widespread power outages/damaged roads

Vanuatu 2023 TC Lola

Approx 200,000 people affected

To date, four payouts have been made for an aggregate amount of more than US$11 million. Two were made under PCRAFI (TC Ian, 2014, Tonga, $1.27m & TC Pam, 2015, Vanuatu, $1.9m) The other half were made by PCRIC (TC Gita, 2018, Tonga, $3.5m & TC Harold, 2020, Tonga, $4.5m) These payouts, all received immediately post-disaster(s), were the first financial injections of emergency funds made into each country.

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WHY POOL TOGETHER?

Sitting by yourself, you are possibly uninsurable, or presented with premiums that are essentially unaffordable.

Pooling your risks together, you can get quality protection at affordable rates.

When disaster strikes, now you are able to recover quickly and efficiently.

Insurers need significant enough exposures in order to increase the predictability of the risks and payouts. This stability is very beneficial and opens up access to favourable insurance protection for smaller island nations.

As more countries join the pool, we can achieve greater economies of scale, and provide pricing benefits through this cooperation

Career Opportunities

Click below to view all the job openings at PCRIC

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A special thanks to our partners

Testimonials

(sourced from the PCRAFI Program Phase II Furthering Disaster Risk Finance in the Pacific)

“The insurance payout from PCRIC has substantially improved our financial capacity to respond swiftly to the most pressing needs of those affected by the cyclone.”
Honorable Pohiva Tu’ionetoa
Former Tonga Prime Minister
“In the Pacific, we are extremely vulnerable to natural disasters. The PCRAFI Facility will enable us to receive fast cash injections for emergency response and to sustain essential services in times of crisis. Following the devastation Cyclone Pam wreaked on Vanuatu in 2015, we are acutely aware of the value insurance programs like this bring in supporting our ability to respond quickly to disasters.”
Honorable Gaetan Pikioune
Former Minister of Finance and Economic Management, Vanuatu
“The PCRAFI Program is just one example of multiple governments and development partners working together to deliver a program that will deliver real benefits for the people of the Pacific. The World Bank looks forward to working with partners to continue supporting the development of new insurance products that will meet the specific needs of more Pacific Island Countries.”
Michel Kerf
Former Country Director for Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands, World Bank Group
“We are happy to be supporting the PCRAFI Program to assist countries in using PacRIS – a regional database of hazard and exposure data. Quality data is essential in multiple sectors, including disaster risk management, infrastructure design and in stimulating domestic insurance markets.”
Colin Tukuitonga
Former Director-General, Pacific Community
“This evolution of PCRAFI is a major advancement in the region to mitigate against the financial impacts caused by extreme climate, weather related and geological hazards. Countries have full ownership of the PCRAFI Facility, putting finance ministers in the driving seat for product development and for designing financial instruments that fit national disaster risk financing strategies.”
Dame Meg Taylor
Former Secretary-General, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat
“The establishment of the PCRAFI Facility marks a real development within the region, with Pacific Island Countries taking full ownership of the disaster and climate risk finance agenda. The PCRAFI Facility is owned by the countries and has brought in significant donor funds from Germany, Japan, UK and US, which will remain as partners in the region to support this agenda going forward.”
Honorable Mark Brown
Cook Islands Prime Minister
“It’s great that such an organization like PCRIC exists to support Pacific Island nations rebuild after a natural disaster through their quick insurance payouts.”
Brenda Ann Williams
PCRIC Intern
“PCRIC acts as a multifaceted support system for the Pacific, especially in assisting governments and their people stay resilient.”
Ratu Mosese Vamarasi Volavola
PCRIC Intern
“As a PCRIC intern, I’m glad to be associated with an entity that truly has the needs of the Pacific region at heart.”
Freimie Tina Toata
PCRIC Intern

NEWS

June 8, 2022

PCRIC CEO Travels to the UK for Risky Business

A delegation from the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC) headed by CEO Mr. Aholotu Palu, has travelled to the UK for a ground-breaking global summit to be held from the 7th to 10th June. Alongside PCRIC, the African Risk Capacity (ARC) and the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), will attend this inaugural gathering of regional risk pool organisations. The event will also see critical industry underwriters and advisors participating to exchange ideas, enhance collaboration, and strengthen engagement across the risk pool sphere.

June 7, 2022

PCRIC CEO Addresses Tongan Government Stakeholders

The CEO of the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC), Mr. Aholotu Palu, was recently invited to present to Tongan government stakeholders at a ‘hazard data’ workshop organised by The Pacific Community (SPC). The workshop offered insight into capacity building, disaster risk financing and updating the hazard and exposure database.

June 6, 2022

PCRIC Expertise in High Demand

Recently, the CEO of the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC), Mr. Aholotu Palu, was virtually attending the 7th session of the Global Platform (GP2022) on Disaster Risk Reduction when he was approached by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) to participate in a live side event… running at the same time.

May 24, 2022

PCRIC Finance Experts Visit Fiji

With the travel restrictions imposed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic being progressively withdrawn, the opportunity to trade Zoom calls for in-person meetings was taken by PCRIC’s Finance and Investment consultants, who were in Fiji last week from Auckland for a series of meetings with PCRIC CEO Mr. Aholotu Palu in Suva.

May 16, 2022

‘Certainty of disaster’: Mass migration, extinction and ‘brain drain’ — what climate change looks like for Australia’s neighbours

For Pacific nations, climate change is not a hypothetical future event — it's already happening, with relocations and legal measures to protect sovereignty already underway.

May 16, 2022

A Royal Surprise on Tonga Mission

With scheduled arrangements concluded, whilst preparing for his departure to Fiji Mr. Palu was unexpectedly invited to an audience with Her Majesty Queen Nanasipauʻu. This provided a welcome opportunity to explain the regional role of PCRIC in the disaster risk management sphere, and hear from Her Majesty of a proposal to establish some form of charitable entity aimed at helping those Tongan people whose generational homes and communities were decimated by the January tsunami.

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