An expert in terrorism insurance has dismissed reports insurance pay-outs have been delayed after the London Bridge attack because the UK government is yet to tag the incident as “terrorism”.
Geoff Stillwell, founder of
Beech Underwriting Agencies, has refuted an Evening Standard article which suggests Chancellor Phillip Hammond must formally label the Borough Market incident as a terrorist attack before insurers can make payments under terrorism cover.
“That is simply not true,” said Stillwell. Beech Underwriting insures a number of businesses in Borough Market and has already started to deal with claims, despite there being no official terrorism tag.
“When the incident occurred on that Saturday (June 03), we tried to get people in first thing on the Monday morning because we insure Borough Market. We were not allowed in by the police,” Stillwell said. “We eventually got in on the Wednesday but only escorted. As far as we are concerned, the repairs are being done and the claims are being paid.
“Beech Underwriting is already dealing with claims. Payments have not been delayed because we are not reliant on the government.”
According to the Evening Standard report, Borough Market traders lost an estimated £1.4 million due to the attack. Arabica Bar & Kitchen, for instance, allegedly lost £50,000 after its insurance claim failed.
Stillwell told Insurance Business the issue is not so much about the label of terrorism but rather the insurance policies and coverage the Borough Market traders had in place.
“Had these people been insured with Beech Underwriting, their claims would have been dealt with,” claimed Stillwell. “We are not reliant on Phillip Hammond formally tagging the attack as a terrorist incident.
“It really is a bit of a pickle. As far as we are concerned, we are dealing with it and everything is being sorted out. We are currently waiting for the final invoices to come in and we are waiting on our clients to provide us with some information so that we can pay them out.”
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