|
{"source_url": "http://tribune242.com", "url": "http://tribune242.com/news/2019/dec/31/pm-told-treat-2bn-insurers-respect/", "title": "PM told: \u2018Treat $2bn insurers with respect\u2019", "top_image": "http://thetribune.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2019/12/18/12132019_HOA19JPG_t670.jpg?b3f6a5d7692ccc373d56e40cf708e3fa67d9af9d", "meta_img": "", "images": ["http://i.imgur.com/weF6a.jpg", "http://thetribune.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/static-3/thetribune/images/pdf-edition.jpg", "http://thetribune.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/static-3/thetribune/images/special-features.jpg", "http://c.statcounter.com/7859479/0/16c5ae61/1/", "http://thetribune.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2019/12/18/12132019_HOA19JPG_t670.jpg?b3f6a5d7692ccc373d56e40cf708e3fa67d9af9d", "http://i.imgur.com/fDh90ja.jpg", "https://i.imgur.com/B9cOe6l.jpg", "http://thetribune.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/static-3/ellington_defaults/2.3.0/images/avatars/blank_avatar.gif", "http://thetribune.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/static-3/thetribune/images/obituaries.jpeg"], "movies": [], "text": "By NEIL HARTNELL\n\nTribune Business Editor\n\nnhartnell@tribunemedia.net\n\nBahamian insurers yesterday urged the prime minister to \u201ctreat the industry with the respect it deserves\u201d over its $2bn Dorian-related payout after he suggested it was \u201cholding back\u201d recovery efforts.\n\nAnton Saunders, RoyalStar Assurance\u2019s managing director, told Tribune Business that Dr Hubert Minnis and his officials knew where to reach the Bahamas Insurance Association (BIA) and the industry\u2019s \u201cmajor players\u201d if they had any issues with their role following the category five storm.\n\nResponding after the prime minister was reported to have said that demolition of unsafe buildings on Abaco and Grand Bahama is being delayed while the insurance companies complete their claims assessments, Mr Saunders reiterated that the extent of Dorian\u2019s devastation was bound to make this process take slightly longer than in previous storms.\n\nHe also pointed out that the industry, and its loss adjusters, had been denied access to the worst-hit parts of Abaco for the immediate fortnight post-Dorian by the government as it sought to make the area safe.\n\n\u201cIf the prime minister has information, he or his representatives should come to the BIA, call us to a meeting and discuss it,\u201d Mr Saunders told Tribune Business. \u201cI don\u2019t know where he\u2019s getting his information from.\n\n\u201cIf you have an organisation that\u2019s spent $2bn, somebody needs to pick up the phone. The prime minister knows all the big players in the insurance industry; if he has legitimate concerns with the insurance industry he\u2019s the prime minister. He can summon us to a meeting and cure all this upset.\u201d\n\nDr Minnis had suggested, according to media reports, that the post-Dorian reconstruction and recovery effort was being \u201cheld back\u201d because the insurance companies were still completing their claims adjusting work.\n\n\u201cThe insurance companies have not yet completed their job in terms of assessing and compensating individuals,\u201d the prime minister said on Christmas Day. \u201cSo we are held back to some extent even by insurance companies... We cannot move buildings until they have been assessed by the insurance companies.\u201d\n\nAsked subsequently for clarification, Dr Minnis said: \u201cOne of the challenges we have with Abaco is you cannot do much, not even within the yards. You have to wait for clearance by the insurance companies - those who have insurance - because if you were to demolish them then insurance companies can always argue that the building was not as bad as said. So you have to work hand in hand with them.\u201d\n\nBahamian property and casualty insurers earlier this month told Tribune Business that the industry\u2019s total Dorian claims payouts are now estimated to come in at the upper end of the last $1.5bn to $2bn estimate, making the storm comfortably the largest ever loss event suffered by the sector and its reinsurance partners in this nation.\n\nMr Saunders yesterday said he wanted to avoid getting into any \u2018blame game\u2019 or finger-pointing in relation to the Prime Minister\u2019s comments, but revealed that he \u201cjust laughed\u201d when he saw them in the newspaper.\n\n\u201cTreat the insurance industry with the respect it deserves and call a meeting,\u201d the RoyalStar chief told Tribune Business. \u201cWe\u2019re all big boys. The industry didn\u2019t even get access to Abaco for the first two weeks because the Government, rightfully so, said they didn\u2019t want us there until they did what they had to do.\n\n\u201cIf the Prime Minister has a problem with the insurance industry he has all the resources to call a meeting with all its executives, some of whom he knows personally, and ask us what the hell is going on.\u201d\n\nSir Franklyn Wilson, RoyalStar Assurance\u2019s chairman, told Tribune Business he, too, was unsure what the Prime Minister meant by his remarks that the insurance industry\u2019s processes were \u201cholding back\u201d post-Dorian reconstruction.\n\n\u201cI see the Prime Minister making comments that the insurance industry is slow, but in the case of RoyalStar where I am chairman we\u2019ve done yeoman\u2019s work. I don\u2019t know what the Prime Minister is alluding to, but most of our adjusters were set to go home before Christmas because their work, their task was effectively done,\u201d Sir Franklyn added yesterday.\n\nMr Saunders had earlier this month told Tribune Business that RoyalStar had settled around 80 percent of its roughly 1,800 Dorian claims, while his Bahamas First counterpart, Patrick Ward, had revealed that 50 percent of its 2,000 claims had been paid out and agreed.\n\n\u201cThe industry has proven its weight and value,\u201d Mr Saunders said then, \u201cand doesn\u2019t get as much credit as it deserves for being an economic stabilising force in The Bahamas. Imagine if the insurance industry was not here. Who else is going to pay that additional $2bn.\n\n\u201cEvery claim we are responsible for internally, all of our reinsurers, all of our network partners, we have a gross reserve of $325m. All in we have a total of 1,800 claims, and of those 1,800 claims we have satisfied and settled 80 percent of those. We\u2019re slightly ahead of expected pace.\u201d", "keywords": [], "meta_keywords": [""], "tags": [], "authors": [], "publish_date": "Tue Dec 31 00:00:00 2019", "summary": "", "article_html": "", "meta_description": "Bahamian insurers yesterday urged the prime minister to \u201ctreat the industry with the respect it deserves\u201d over\u00a0its\u00a0$2bn\u00a0Dorian-related payout after he suggested it was \u201cholding back\u201d recovery efforts.", "meta_lang": "en", "meta_favicon": "", "meta_data": {"description": "Bahamian insurers yesterday urged the prime minister to \u201ctreat the industry with the respect it deserves\u201d over\u00a0its\u00a0$2bn\u00a0Dorian-related payout after he suggested it was \u201cholding back\u201d recovery efforts.", "og": {"title": "PM told: \u2018Treat $2bn insurers with respect\u2019", "type": "article", "url": "http://www.tribune242.com/news/2019/dec/31/pm-told-treat-2bn-insurers-respect/"}, "viewport": "width=1020"}, "canonical_link": "http://www.tribune242.com/news/2019/dec/31/pm-told-treat-2bn-insurers-respect/"} |
