The Insurance Council of St. Lucia gears up for its 48th Annual General Meeting which will be held on Thursday October 19, 2023, at the Sandals Regency La Toc Golf Resort & Spa. This year’s AGM is hosted under the theme – Property Insurance Affordability vs Availability.
This thought-provoking theme captures the present challenge faced by the industry and its valued policyholders. Presenters will include two Reinsurance Brokers and a representative from The Financial Services Regulatory Authority.
ICSL’s Membership would like to take the opportunity to raise public awareness on the forces driving ongoing price increases and/or adjustments to insurance products and services across the industry and foreseeable impact.
Over the years, Insurers have been subsidizing the increased cost of doing business where possible, to protect policyholders and remain competitively priced in the market. However, current economic pressures have made it no longer sustainable to do so.
The global reinsurance market which covers insurance companies and by extension its policyholders, continues to harden, and that, coupled with increasing inflation levels, is having an adverse impact on the Caribbean. As expected, we have seen a continuation of this trend to date and the 2024 outlook promises more of the same. The level of capacity deployed to the region by the reinsurance market for catastrophe related exposure has contracted while the cost for same has significantly increased. Other contributing cost drivers are the rising cost of claims due to frequency and severity of accidents / incidents, supply chain disruptions and increased taxes/duties.
The business is cyclical, so we are hopeful for relief in the future, possibly at the end of 2025. Thus, we will remain an agile industry and continue to engage our policyholders on adjustments as the market dictates.
ICSL’s Membership Thank you – valued policyholders for your continued support and understanding as we navigate these challenging seas of change. We encourage that if you have any queries or concerns, please feel free to reach out for more information.