The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian insurers said yesterday they were bracing for flood-related claims from Tropical Storm Erika, with one executive telling Tribune Business his company  was already being affected due to its operations in other Caribbean countries impacted by the storm.

   Vibert Williams, head of Netherlands Antilles General Insurance Company (NAGICO) Bahamas, told Tribune Business the company had already received reports of serious flood damage done by Erika.

“Several territories in the Caribbean in which we operate have already reported and provided pictures of flood waters. Dominica, being very mountainous and with rivers that have burst their banks, is the hardest hit,” said Mr Williams.

     “Erika is a large, wet storm that could bring as much as eight inches of rain when it gets here. Additionally, it is relatively slow-moving.

“With the soil already saturated from rainfall associated with the weather system previously known as Danny, chances are extremely high that Erika, especially if she lingers around, can cause major flooding,” Mr Williams added.

“Because of NAGICO’s spread throughout the Caribbean, we are often first affected by any weather system and have, therefore, developed over the years a proactive, tried-and-tested catastrophe management process. We are ready to respond in a ‘fast and fair’ manner to those clients of ours who may be affected.”

 Darnell Osborne, financial controller at Insurance Company of the Bahamas (ICB), the underwriting carrier for much of J. S. Johnson’s property and casualty business, told Tribune Business that based on past experience storm-damaged vehicles would be a concern.

   “We are expecting quite a bit of motor concerns with flooding,” she said. “In terms of flooding you don’t expect too much structural damage to property itself unless it’s really some defect or flaw in the building, but the concerns are with the content for those who have that coverage.”

  Mrs Osborne added: “Some persons don’t include the content coverage in their policy. They don’t get the content; they just insure the building. In that case, it’s not a concern unless you have some other damage to the building.

“If there is flooding and they have content coverage then obviously we expect large claims from those. The content coverage is not automatic; it just depends on whether they elected to have it.”