Caribbean Homeowners Brace - More Storms Coming, Insurance Hard to Get

The storms keep getting stronger - but for many in the Caribbean, insurance is slipping further out of reach. At the heart of the crisis is a simple, painful truth: you can’t rebuild what you can’t afford to protect.

Since Hurricane Irma in 2017, insurance rates across the region have leapt — by some estimates up to 40% in the past two years.

In places like Jamaica, only 1 in 5 homes even have coverage. In Barbados, about half are covered — but that still leaves massive gaps.

Premiums in some islands hit 1.7% of a home’s value — and that’s before factoring in remote location, higher risk, or limited competition.

With insurance unaffordable or unavailable, many homeowners resort to self-funding repairs, building stronger walls or shelters with their own money.

Some already know what it means to lose it all. One man lost his home to a hurricane — later got a new one via international aid.

When Irma hit Antigua and Barbuda, rebuilding cost over US$200 million — relying heavily on external aid.

The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) tried to help — after Hurricane Beryl, it paid out around US $85 million.

Disaster agencies also stay active year-round: training, preparing shelters, strengthening infrastructure. But with climate change pushing storms stronger and faster, many islanders remain fearful.

You hear “resilience” a lot in crisis talk — but resilience means more than grit. It means prevention, protection, readiness.

If insurance becomes a luxury few can access, then when storms hit, only the rich or the lucky survive. That’s backwards.

Run Di Chat say: SKN — and the wider Caribbean — must push harder. Innovate insurance models. Make coverage accessible. Use community pooling. Incentivize stronger building. Engineer safety, not vulnerability. Because sea, sun and sand might draw people — but storms expose our refuse.