Insurers pledge swift payouts for lost victims

By Anna McLauchlin

Date: 20/01/05

Insurance companies across Europe have been working with their national governments to ensure that families of victims of the Asian tsunami disaster receive life insurance as quickly as possible, the European Insurance Association (CEA) says.

Companies in Sweden and the UK, for example, have promised to pay out to bereaved families even if the body of the victim has not yet been found. Usually a death certificate or a court decision is needed before insurers pay out and if these are not available the insurance claim can be blocked for several years.

The Association of British Insurers has already said that it will only require "reasonable evidence" for a claim and a spokeswoman for the CEA told European Voice that many other member states, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands, were also working towards more flexible solutions.

Sweden is re-patriating all injured people, whether or not they can prove that they have the appropriate insurance cover.

"We think that the Swedish government will reimburse the costs for anyone who did not have the correct insurance," said a spokesman for the Swedish Insurance Federation. Insurers have also, in collaboration with their government authorities, set up helplines and websites to allow claims to be processed more effectively and to explain various travel policies clearly. This, they hope, will help avoid confusion over what is and what is not covered.

There is still no official figure for how much European insurers will have to pay out following the disaster.

When the news first broke, re-insurers Swiss Re and Munich Re claimed that the payout would be a relatively low €100 million, despite the overall damage in the region reaching €10 billion.

2004 was the costliest year on record for the insurance industry for natural disasters, with insured losses coming in at around €30bn, largely because of the hurricanes that hit the US and the Caribbean.

Article reports that insurance companies across Europe were working with their national governments to ensure that families of victims of the Asian tsunami disaster receive life insurance as quickly as possible, the European Insurance Association (CEA) said.