(Adds detail, background, CEO)
LONDON, May 7 (Reuters) - British insurer RSA said
it expected its exposure from the coronavirus pandemic to total
around 25 million pounds ($30.89 million), with claims coming
from travel, wedding and event cancellation insurance.
The home, motor and commercial insurer had received around
25,000 claims on which it would pay out, of which around 23,000
were travel claims, it said in a statement.
There had been little effect from the pandemic on RSA's
first-quarter results, with business operating profit up by
double digit percentages, RSA said. Net written premiums
totalled 1.5 billion pounds in the first quarter, down 1% from a
year earlier.
Best known in Britain for its "More than" brand, RSA also
has large operations in Canada, Ireland and Scandinavia.
RSA said last month it would not pay its 2019 final
dividend, following pressure from regulators on insurers to
protect policyholders and ensure strong levels of capital.
Chief Executive Stephen Hester said RSA was "resilient".
"We are also very conscious of our shareholder
responsibilities, especially with regards to restarting dividend
payments when it is prudent to do so.”
The group's solvency ratio fell to 151% from 168% at
end-Dec due to market moves and planned pension contributions,
but remained within the insurer's 130-160% target range.
A level above 100% indicates an insurer has sufficient
capital.
RSA is one of several top insurers facing the possibility of
multi-million pound lawsuits from small businesses in Britain
which allege legitimate business interruption claims have been
rejected.
The Financial Conduct Authority said last week it was
seeking clarity from the courts to resolve uncertainty over
business interruption payments.
"The great majority of business interruption claims are not
expected to be eligible under their coverage terms for
COVID-19", RSA said, adding that for claims due to the pandemic
in general, "it is expected that some cases will be challenged
and may have outcomes the same or different to our
expectations".
($1 = 0.8093 pounds)
(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn
Editing by Maiya Keidan)
