From the Guardian22 Apr 2020 23:45
Hiscox, the insurer, says it is “determined to help provide greater certainty for customers” because, touchingly, it recognises “these are extremely difficult times for businesses”.
If that sounds like willingness to pay out without a fuss on small firms’ claims for business interruption related to Covid-19, think again. The “certainty” that Hiscox has in mind is the type where the customer gives up hope of receiving a payment.
The Bermuda-based insurer expects to pay out between $150m (£120m) and $175m to larger firms with specific event-cancellation cover, but it hasn’t retreated one inch from its insistence that most small firms aren’t covered for pandemics. Local outbreaks of Legionnaire’s disease and suchlike are, apparently, what the policies meant by protection against closure of business premises caused by notifiable diseases.
Hiscox’s only concession is to cooperate with the Financial Ombudsman Service to resolve quarrels speedily. Since submission to the arbitration service is semi-obligatory anyway, Wednesday’s statement really added nothing.
Meanwhile, the list of small companies wanting to challenge Hiscox is lengthening; more than 100 nightclubs, pubs and bars have joined the ranks. We’ll see where the action leads but, unfortunately for claimants, regulators seem inclined to back insurers’ interpretation.
Whatever the outcome of the legal scrap, though, Hiscox would be well advised to avoid empty expressions of sympathy with angry customers. They’ll make it even harder to restore a reputation that is taking a battering.
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