The insurance regulator’s latest count shows roughly 15 per cent of Hurricane Melissa claims still open almost a year after the storm, and a large share of the money insurers expect to pay has yet to reach policyholders.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, 19 October 2026, More than 1,500 insurance claims from Hurricane Melissa were still unresolved at the end of September, according to the latest industry-wide assessment by the Financial Services Commission, the regulator that supervises Jamaica’s insurers. The figures, reported by the Jamaica Observer, arrive days before the first anniversary of the storm’s landfall on 28 October 2025 and give homeowners, landlords and businesses still waiting on settlements an updated official picture of how much recovery money remains inside the claims system.
What the regulator found
As at 30 September, insurers across all classes of business had recorded 10,365 Melissa claims, including those handled under coinsurance arrangements. Of these, 8,802 had been settled and 1,563 were unresolved. That is a settlement rate of roughly 85 per cent by number, but the Commission was careful to say it does not mean 85 per cent of the money has been paid.
The payment figures bear that caution out. Insurers had paid J$13.29 billion on claims denominated in Jamaican dollars and US$389.34 million on claims in United States dollars. Against those sums they were holding outstanding claims reserves of J$5.49 billion and US$489.96 million respectively. Reserves are insurers’ own estimates of what they still expect to pay and may change as claims are resolved. Even so, on those estimates more than half of the expected US-dollar payout, and close to three in every ten Jamaican dollars, had yet to be paid when the quarter closed. The Commission described the outstanding US-dollar claims as generally more complex and technical, needing detailed assessment before they can be settled.
The Commission’s Executive Director said the figures showed progress but that important work remained, and acknowledged that unresolved claims can have serious consequences for households and businesses. The regulator said it is now looking closely at prolonged settlements, disputed claims, incomplete assessments and cases where a settlement has been agreed but not paid. It expects insurers to show they are actively moving claims forward and communicating clearly with claimants, and said it would consider appropriate action within its regulatory authority where its supervisory work finds shortcomings.
Two counts, one backlog
The regulator’s numbers sit alongside the industry’s own. Earlier this month the Insurance Association of Jamaica reported, according to the Gleaner, that its participating insurers had settled 8,357 claims and paid $54.35 billion by the end of September, with 983 claims outstanding, 740 of them for commercial or residential property. The two sets of figures are compiled differently: the Commission’s count draws on submissions from insurers across every class of business and includes coinsurance arrangements, while the association’s covers specified categories of claims from participating insurers. The published reports do not reconcile the gap between 983 and 1,563 open claims.
The association’s breakdown also shows how heavily insured losses have tilted towards business property. Commercial property payouts reached $41.61 billion against $10.37 billion for residential property. Underinsurance is likely part of the reason. The association has previously indicated that about 95 per cent of residential properties are underinsured, and the Commission said in July that it was reviewing how insurers apply the average clause, which reduces a payout in proportion to the shortfall between a building’s insured value and its replacement value.
Why the wait matters for property
For property owners, an open claim is rarely just a paperwork problem. A house waiting on a settlement often cannot be fully repaired, and an unrepaired home is harder to sell, refinance or let. The association’s figures show that St James, Hanover and Westmoreland together account for about 71 per cent of property payments, so delays there are likely to weigh most on rental supply and repair activity in the west. Mortgage lenders, who generally require insurance on the homes they finance, have an obvious interest in how quickly that cover converts into cash.
The strain shows up on insurers’ balance sheets too. Figures cited by the Gleaner show general insurance liabilities rising from $63.3 billion in September 2025, before the storm, to $151.7 billion by June 2026, an increase partly attributed to Melissa. As policies come up for renewal, owners may find insurers looking harder at sums insured, construction standards and location, with premiums potentially following that scrutiny.
There is a quieter lesson here about what security in a home really means. A house that is fully paid for is not free of financial risk, and cover bought years ago at an old valuation may not rebuild a roof at today’s prices.
The test ahead
The Commission has now put fresh numbers to the backlog. The next question is how it uses them, particularly on agreed claims that have not been paid and on the complex cases that make up much of what remains. For the housing market, the outcome will shape how quickly damaged homes return to use in the hardest-hit parishes, and whether owners come away from Melissa insuring their properties for their full replacement value. Nearly a year after the storm, the resilience of the island’s housing stock depends not only on stronger roofs but on cover that pays, and pays on time.
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