Reserve Bank of Fiji marks micro parametric insurance trigger payouts covering more than 1,100 policyholders

The Reserve Bank of Fiji held a Micro Parametric Insurance Payout Event highlighting three trigger-event payouts under the 2024/2025 policy period for a micro-parametric insurance initiative delivered with SUN Insurance and Tower Insurance. The payouts cover more than 1,100 policyholders in the Western Division, with 15 policyholders represented at the event and an estimated 5,000 beneficiaries. The initiative sits under an InsuResilience Solutions Fund project co-funded by Germany’s InsuResilience Solutions Fund through a grant agreement with the insurers, alongside support from the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Capital Development Fund via the Pacific Insurance and Climate Adaptation Program. The Bank framed parametric insurance as a tool for timely and predictable disaster-related payouts and linked it to Fiji’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2022–2030; targets include onboarding 5,000 policyholders (50 percent women and 60 percent from poor and vulnerable communities) and extending awareness on parametric insurance to 20,000 people, with outreach activities reaching close to 5,000 Fijians in person over the last five months. Preparation for Year 2 of the project is underway, including a review of existing products and exploration of new parametric solutions for additional sectors and communities. The Bank acknowledged delays in initial onboarding and payouts and said it would work to ensure a more effective process going forward.