LONDON, April 25 (Reuters) - British insurers are likely to
pay more than 1.2 billion pounds ($1.5 billion) on claims from
businesses and individuals affected by the coronavirus pandemic,
an insurance trade body said on Saturday.
The estimate includes 900 million pounds for business
interruption claims, a record 275 million pounds for cancelled
travel and 25 million pounds for cancelled weddings, school
trips and events, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said
in response to a request for information from parliament's
Treasury Committee.
Checking that insurers were treating customers fairly, the
committee of lawmakers last month asked how many of the ABI's
members had stopped offering insurance or changed the terms of
existing products.
The ABI said that only 4% of products had been withdrawn in
March 2020 and insurers were being flexible over premium
payments.
However, the trade body also said that many businesses would
be unable to claim on their policies.
"Most policyholders are not covered for pandemic losses,"
said ABI Director General Huw Evans.
"The UK should ?examine public-private partnerships to find
a lasting solution to enable more affordable, more extensive
pandemic insurance cover to be available to those who want it."
The insurance industry has come under fire for rejecting
business insurance claims during the crisis, with several groups
of claimants threatening legal action.
Where there were grey areas in policies, insurers should go
"the extra mile in meeting claims wherever possible", Mel
Stride, Chair of the Treasury Committee, said in response to the
ABI.
The ABI's estimate did not include payouts by insurers in
the Lloyd's of London or wider London commercial insurance
market, it said.
($1 = 0.8104 pounds)
(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn
Editing by David Goodman
)
