Less than 10 percent of households in Fiji are insured. This was noted by Lolesh Sharma of the Insurance Council of Fiji, while presenting at a stakeholder’s seminar on policies, regulations and consumer concerns related to property insurance in Fiji.
“Insurance penetration is an issue; only 18,000 out of the 184,000 households in Fiji are insured,” he stated.
Mr Sharma advised that for a holistic approach to insurance reform, measures have to be sustainable and ensure actuarial projections could withstand prudent requirements by the Reserve Bank of Fiji.
Reforms must also be able to muster international reinsurance support, adhere to the Insurance Law Reform Act 1996 and be a partnership of all parties, as well as address the National Building Code of 2004.
He said flood mitigation at town planning stages needed hydrological run-off studies to ascertain the impact of river flows at peak intensity, and also called for regulation of builders and all other supporting building-related consultants, as well as a standard for building materials entering Fiji.
Organized by the Consumer Council of Fiji, the seminar was opened by Attorney-General and Economy Minister, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, who called on more insurance provisions for socio-economic circumstances.