What factors impact my premiums?

The main factors for escalating premiums are:

• Poor claims experience from the local pool of business. All premiums collected are pooled together to pay for claims. If there is a significant increase in the number and costs of claims within the annual contract, the entire pool will be adjusted the following year.
• Poor claims internationally. Local companies all buy additional coverage from International reinsurers. The premiums collected locally cannot cover catastrophes such as hurricanes, storms and other large mass damage. If the International reinsurers have had an active year because of typhoons or storm damage internationally or in more recent times, the losses caused by the bombing of the World Trade Center, they will charge us more for the cover we buy and demand a rate increase.
• For the Property Market, it is the reinsurer who often determines what rates are charged locally. The Caribbean is an hurricane prone region and even if one does not hit Jamaica, the US and the other Caribbean Countries are hit almost every year. Reinsurers have threatened to withdraw from the region, which would make insurance unavailable and unattainable for most people. This would seriously threaten the economic and social stability of the country. Government funds and international aid would not be enough for us to rebuild as we did after Gilbert.