A parametric insurance plan helped 46,000 women across 22 districts in India tackle the extreme heatwave conditions that swept through vast swathes of the country in May and June this year.
These women registered with the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) labour union were enrolled under a parametric insurance programme covered by ICICI Lombard. A total of 50,000 women were covered under this programme out of which 46,000 women received a total of $340,000 in payouts in the month of May.
The premium for this programme is paid for partly by the women enrolled in the programme, with climate resilience for all, a non-profit, covering the remaining portion. The pilot programme launched in 2023 is set to run until April 2025.
India, over the past three months has faced one of its worst heatwave streaks ever, with temperatures hovering around the 50ºC mark in many parts of the country. These extreme conditions have taken a toll on the population with many succumbing to heat strokes and other life-threatening conditions. The national media has reported close to 450 deaths from heat strokes and over 41,000 suspected heat stroke related hospitalisation cases from across the country.
Parametric insurance to the rescue
The availability of the parametric insurance cover helped the women covered to stop working for a few hours daily during the intense heatwave period. Parametric insurance pays out when a certain pre-defined metric is hit and once verification is done, the person covered is eligible for a prompt payout without going through a claims process.
Considering the success of the programme, climate resilience for all plans to continue its support for the programme for a few more years and hopes to ultimately include the 2.9m members of SEWA to the programme. Doing so would allow the plan to be funded entirely by women paying the premiums, that would be a day’s wage every month.
Source: asiainsurancereview.com
Comments