What must our customer’s think

I received a call from a distressed broker whose client’s business had been during the siege and subsequent police investigation in Sydney. The business had been shut down during a peak period leading up to Christmas.

The Insurer would not accept the claim as they were not sure if the loss was due to terrorism or not.

This Insured, like any other in the CBD of Sydney had paid a terrorism levy with their insurance. Whether it is declared an act of terrorism or not, which for a raft of reasons, (political, and above all financial) I doubt it will be, the Insured is entitled to have their claim lodged and reviewed with the Insurer.

If it is deemed, under the Terrorism Insurance Act (2003), to fall within the definition then the Insurer would have the right to recover from the Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation after meeting the first $100,000 of the claim.

The last thing that should happen at this time is that the insurance industry be painted by the media as being uncaring and looking for ways not to pay valid claims.

Hopefully, this is just an isolated incident where the insurance officer was not fully briefed.