The premiums to insure properties across the Caribbean are likely to increase as a result of the ripple impact of the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the hardening of conditions in the insurance industry globally, Sagicor president Dodridge Miller said yesterday.He was speaking from Tampa, Florida, via a video conference link to journalists in Bridgetown, Barbados and at Sagicor's Trinidad offices at Queen's Park West.Speaking on the financial services company's 2010 results, Miller said the insurance industry in the Caribbean is not immune to the natural disasters that have hit the world."Is Sagicor the only regional institution to be affected by the global catastrophes? The answer to that is no," he said.
After a "disappointing" 2010, Miller said he expects Sagicor to recover within two years."We have taken action and will take further action which will reduce exposure to events that caused the reduction in the profits. I would say between 2011 to 2012, we expect a return to recovery," he said.According to the chairman's statements for the 2010 annual results, Group net income for 2010 amounted to US$41.6 million, down from a restated US$87.6 million for 2009.Miller said the earthquake and tsunami crisis in Japan would have an impact on Sagicor's first quarter 2011 results but he said that since no claims have been submitted, the insurance company was not as able to quantify its assessment of the impact.
"We are still working through what is the real impact of Japan. We are looking at exposure and modelling them to see what the potential risk will be. These are all being worked out by the market. At this point, we are still working through those. By the time we finish our first quarter results, we'll take a decision by how the market has informed us on what the risks will be," he said.Miller said it is obvious that there would be an increase in premiums for property insurance."Remember, we are talking about global exposure in light of the natural disasters and what we are seeing is that premiums will go up. It's already started to happen. In my view, it will have a ripple impact in the Caribbean. But it's not a function of Sagicor, but of the market responding to 'hardening conditions' in the industry," he said.