This week marks the insurance industry’s own target for settling the bulk of Hurricane Melissa claims. For Jamaica’s tourism sector, that target will not be met. A new survey of Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) members finds that six in 10 tourism claims remain unresolved, and that most operators expect to recover well short of what they lost.

In August the regulator and the insurance industry made a public commitment. The Financial Services Commission (FSC), the Insurance Association of Jamaica, the Jamaica Insurance Brokers Association, and the Loss Adjusters’ Association of Jamaica issued a joint statement committing to accelerate the resolution of outstanding Melissa claims, with the objective of settling the vast majority of claims, excluding complex and litigated matters, by the end of September 2026. We welcomed that commitment. The evidence from our members shows how far there is still to go.

MEMBERS DID THEIR PART

More than eight in 10 respondents submitted a Melissa claim. Of those who did not, most cited little or no damage, and the rest said their loss would not have exceeded the policy excess. Not one pointed to a lack of cover. Tourism operators are not underinsured bystanders asking for sympathy; they held cover, declared their exposure, and filed in good faith.

Only around four in 10 claimants report that their claim has been fully settled and paid. The remaining six in 10, nearly a year on, are still waiting at some stage of the process. Around a third have been only partially settled or have received interim payments alone. Others have an offer under review, and roughly one in 10 say they have received no response at all.

For a business that has had to rebuild, restock, retain staff, and reopen, an interim payment is not recovery. It is a mere bridge, and for many operators that bridge is running out. Many members report being told by their insurers that a shortage of loss-adjuster capacity is the primary cause of finalisation delays. We are further advised that fewer than half of the loss adjusters on the commission’s register are licensed to handle property claims, and that hotel properties are among the most complex claims to process.

Complexity is not an acceptable excuse for delay, still less for silence, and it does not justify deductions beyond the policy terms. Insurers accepted our business on the basis that they had the capacity to respond when the need arose.

DEDUCTIONS BEYOND THE POLICY TERMS

The most troubling finding concerns how claims are being calculated. Seven in 10 claimants report deductions above what their agreed average clause provides — the clause that governs the percentage of agreed self-insurance. Members advise that insurers are unilaterally revaluing property and assets above the values previously accepted in the policy, and then deeming those properties underinsured. Strikingly, around a third of claimants report deductions exceeding 40 per cent of the claim value.

Our members are not disputing that the average clause exists, nor that underinsurance must be addressed across the market. What they report is deductions that exceed what their agreed policy terms provide. That is a different matter, and it is one the regulator must investigate.

As the FSC reviews the application of the average clause, we expect it to look closely at the experience of commercial and tourism policyholders, not only the data held by insurers.

The consequence of slow and short settlement is stark. Two in three operators expect to recover less than three-quarters of what they lost. Only one in 10 expects full recovery. More than a quarter appear already to have accepted final settlements below their claimed loss, often, we understand, because the need for cash outweighed the cost of waiting.

The issue is not access to cover. It is cash.

No member reports that a claim is in dispute or litigation. This is not a sector at war with its insurers, and the JHTA has no interest in making it one. The insurance industry has carried an extraordinary burden since Melissa, and many adjusters and underwriters have worked tirelessly.

Nor is the JHTA a lone voice. Prime Minister Andrew Holness has himself called on private insurers to speed up Melissa settlements, warning that delays are stalling Jamaica’s recovery. Independent commentators have also noted that the industry’s joint statement offered no metrics on the scale of the backlog, and did not engage claimant representatives on their views. Our survey offers exactly those metrics, from exactly those claimants.

The pattern is unmistakable: Claims are being paid slowly and settled short. The result is a working-capital hole across the sector, and it falls hardest on small and mid-sized properties, which have the thinnest reserves and the least capacity to borrow through a shortfall. These are the guest houses, villas, and independent hotels that anchor community tourism and carry a disproportionate share of local employment and linkages.

WHY THIS MATTERS NOW

This cash gap does not exist in isolation. The JHTA’s position on the proposed increase in General Consumption Tax (GCT) on tourism, from 10 to 15 per cent, is clear: The sector cannot afford it. That case stands on its own merits. But operators are now making it while fighting a second battle to recover money they are contractually owed for losses they have already incurred and, in many cases, have already paid to repair from their own resources. Fiscal decisions affecting tourism must take full account of the sector’s real post-Melissa cash position, not the headline recovery in arrivals.

WHAT WE ARE ASKING FOR

First, we ask insurers to report publicly, against their end-September commitment, how many commercial and tourism claims remain open, and to give every outstanding claimant a named contact and a written timeline to resolution.

Second, we ask the FSC to ensure its average-clause review reflects the experience of commercial and tourism policyholders, and to publish its conclusions so that policyholders can understand and, where necessary, challenge the basis of deductions.

Third, with the peak of the hurricane season upon us, we ask the industry and the regulator to agree a catastrophe-claims protocol, including loss-adjuster surge capacity, before the next storm rather than after it.

Finally, we ask the Government, which has itself called for faster settlements, to weigh this evidence in its fiscal deliberations affecting the sector.

Since Melissa, Jamaica’s tourism operators have worked relentlessly to reopen, retain their teams, and protect the country’s reputation as a destination. That work is far from complete. Twenty-eight per cent of hotels have yet to reopen. Others are operating below capacity, and many operators are carrying the cost of repairs themselves while they wait on their insurers. They did not ask for special treatment. They bought insurance precisely so they would not have to. What they need now is for that promise to be honoured in full, and in time to make a difference.

O’Brian Heron is president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association