500 families receive free microinsurance hurricane protection
Raincoat, a microinsurance technology company based on the island, partnered with the Puerto Rico Children and Youth Rights Network to provide free microinsurance financial protection against hurricanes to 500 low-income Puerto Rican families and Network participants.
Raincoat creates technologies to provide adequate protection to people facing adverse weather conditions and natural disasters. The policy offers coverage of up to $1,000 a year.
“This partnership with the Puerto Rico Children and Youth Rights Network will give hundreds of Puerto Rican children, youth, and families to financial protection against atmospheric events on the Island, such as hurricanes. The insurance pays low-income families within 15 days of the weather event to buy food, staples, or emergency items, and regain financial stability,” said Jonathan González, CEO of Raincoat, LLC.
The nonprofit organization incubating this initiative, Mentes Puertorriqueñas en Acción (MPA), will provide fiscal sponsorship and technical support to beneficiary communities to improve their preparedness for catastrophic events, company officials said.
“The agreement will allow implementing the Rainboots initiative to offer free financial protection against hurricane-intensity winds to 500 families with children participating in the Network,” said Marcos Santana-Andújar, president of the Puerto Rico Children and Youth Rights Network.
“The aid will go directly to low-income families with children and youth in the communities. This protection consists of catastrophic microinsurance which pays cash in less than 15 days after the atmospheric event depending on the intensity of winds,” he said.
The Network will identify 500 low-income families with children and teens living in vulnerable hurricane areas and offer them insurance policies. The objective is to eliminate financial protection barriers to families with limited resources and disburse cash in less than 15 days after a hurricane strikes the island.
Raincoat recently launched its parametric microinsurance coverage that pays customers without making claims. This microinsurance pays cash according to a predictable and measurable atmospheric event instead of disbursing money for property damage since it is tied to the impact of the hurricane winds.
