Insurers have published updated figures on Hurricane Melissa payouts, and the Financial Services Commission says it will release its own verified picture of what remains unpaid on 16 October.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, 10 October 2026, Jamaica’s insurance regulator plans to publish a verified assessment of Hurricane Melissa claims next Friday, almost a year after the Category 5 storm tore through the west of the island. The announcement comes as the insurance industry has released figures showing more than J$54 billion paid on settled claims, with close to a thousand still open. For homeowners and businesses that are still rebuilding, the regulator’s report could be the first independent measure of how much recovery money remains caught in the claims system.
What insurers have paid
According to Insurance Association of Jamaica data reported by the Gleaner, insurers had settled 8,357 Melissa claims by the end of September, paying out J$54.35 billion. Residential and commercial property accounted for J$51.9 billion of that sum and motor claims for J$2.3 billion. Of the 983 claims still outstanding, 740 relate to property. Engineering claims, which the association described as the hardest category because of the complexity of assessment and settlement, were 45 per cent outstanding. Interim payments have been made on 205 of the open property and engineering claims.
The geography of the payouts follows the storm’s path. Property payouts in St James reached J$30.5 billion, far ahead of Hanover at J$3.5 billion, Westmoreland at J$2.94 billion, St Ann at J$1.75 billion and St Elizabeth at J$1.43 billion. The association said St Elizabeth’s comparatively small total reflects a low level of insurance penetration in the parish rather than light damage.
Homes trail far behind businesses
The most striking split is between commercial and residential property. Commercial claims accounted for J$41.6 billion, about 80 per cent of property payouts, while homes accounted for J$10.3 billion. That ratio says more about who was insured, and for how much, than about who suffered. Industry figures cited by the Gleaner in July put the share of underinsured residential properties at roughly 95 per cent, and the regulator has been reviewing how insurers apply the average clause, which reduces a payout in proportion to the gap between a building’s insured value and its replacement cost.
Set against the scale of the disaster, private insurance has carried only a modest share of the burden. An assessment published by the Inter-American Development Bank in May put the storm’s total estimated cost at more than J$1.45 trillion. The two figures are not like for like, since that estimate covers damages, wider economic losses and additional costs well beyond insured property, but the comparison makes the point: most of the cost of recovery falls outside the insurance system.
What the regulator wants to see
In a statement this week, the Financial Services Commission said it is examining the number and value of claims settled, the amounts paid and outstanding, and the reasons for delay, the Jamaica Observer reported. It intends to separate claims that are fully or partly settled from those agreed but awaiting payment, those in dispute and those still being assessed, and to show how a small number of very large or complex claims affects the overall picture. Publication depends on insurers’ submissions being complete and verified. The commission is also meeting insurers to identify obstacles and to decide whether further supervisory action is needed, with a focus on long settlement periods, communication and outstanding documents.
The move follows months of pressure. The commission issued an advisory in late June stating that the volume of claims did not excuse insurers from handling them fairly, transparently and without unnecessary delay. A joint statement with industry bodies in August, which set the end of September as the target for settling the vast majority of claims outside complex and litigated cases, was criticised by a Gleaner business columnist for offering no counts of claims filed or unsettled. The association’s own end-of-September update gave settlement rates of 90 per cent for motor claims but only 54 per cent for non-motor claims and 49 per cent for claims in United States dollars, while a Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association survey found just 39 per cent of tourism claimants fully paid.
Why it matters for property
For the housing market, the delays have practical consequences. A homeowner waiting on a settlement often cannot finish repairs, and an unrepaired house is harder to sell, refinance or rent. Lenders generally require insurance on mortgaged homes, so the size and speed of payouts feed directly into how banks and building societies view risk in the hardest-hit parishes. Owners renewing policies for the coming year now face a sharper question about whether their sums insured match what it would cost to rebuild.
There is also a broader lesson in the St Elizabeth figure. Where insurance penetration is low, households without cover must rebuild from savings, help from relatives and state assistance, which is a less predictable form of security than a policy.
The test ahead
If the commission publishes on schedule, Jamaicans will have, for the first time, a regulator’s account of how many Melissa claims are disputed, how many are simply waiting for a cheque and how much money is involved. That evidence will shape whether further supervisory action follows. It will also arrive days before the first anniversary of the storm’s landfall on 28 October, a reminder that resilience is measured not only in stronger roofs and walls but in how quickly the financial protection that homeowners pay for actually reaches them.
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