Companies in Singapore can now get insurance for the haze. Zurich-based insurer Swiss Re has launched the first insurance product that specifically protects companies against the seasonal air pollution caused by burning peatlands in neighbouring Indonesia. Payouts for Swiss Re’s HazeShield insurance are triggered when the air quality deteriorates beyond a certain threshold on the National Environment Agency’s Pollutant Standard Index (PSI)—there’s no need to give the insurance company evidence of losses or damages to make a claim. Swiss Re offers similar insurance to protect companies in Hong Kong against typhoons. To prevent abuse of the scheme, for instance agribusiness firms buying insurance cover and then deliberately starting fires, companies in Indonesia and Singapore-based firms that maybe involved in slash-and-burn forestry in Indonesia are not eligible.

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