Sixteen Caribbean nations and territories pool their risk through the program, slashing individual premiums by about 40 percent. Governments have purchased policy deductibles that would reimburse them for damage incurred during hurricanes or earthquakes over a 20-year period.

Amid the global financial crisis, member governments received a 10 percent decrease in premium costs for the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility, established by the World Bank in 2006, program administrators said in a Friday statement.