Insurance Ireland members estimate that business interruption insurance claims will amount to €430m 

• Insurance Ireland estimates that Covid-19 business interruption claims involving Insurance Ireland members will amount to approximately €430m once all claims are received and processed; this process is ongoing as businesses emerge from lockdown and submit their claims, which are then individually assessed.
• This estimate is subject to variability as the situation unfolds and claims develop.
• €62 million in claims has already been paid out to customers at this point.
• 9,175 claims have been received to date, of which:

o   35% (3,227) have been accepted;

o   13% (1,222) are being assessed;

o   36% (3,264) did not have cover; and

o   16% (1,462) were withdrawn by the customer.

• Members are dealing with an evolving Covid-19 business interruption claims situation and the above estimates are a snapshot of the current position.

Moyagh Murdock, CEO of Insurance Ireland, said:

“The Covid-19 pandemic is unprecedented in its impact and will be one of the biggest insured events of recent times. These latest estimates demonstrate the support that Insurance Ireland members expect to offer their customers as a result of business interruption insurance related claims across a wide range of policies. This data was collected from individual firms by Insurance Ireland in recent weeks.

“We recognise the pandemic has illustrated some uncomfortable gaps between what people expected to be covered for and what their policy was designed for. We need to learn lessons from this unprecedented event and redouble our efforts to improve consumers’ understanding and trust in insurance products.

“We also understand that this is a very difficult time for businesses and that business interruption insurance is a cause of concern in the marketplace. It is a very complex issue but most policy wordings are clear in terms of what cover is provided and what exclusions are in place.

“As the Governor of the Central Bank highlighted recently, there are three types of policy here. There are some where there is no cover, there are others where there clearly is cover and there is a smaller group where it is ambiguous.

“No insurance market in the world provides widespread insurance coverage for pandemics and Ireland is no exception but, where there is cover, our members are engaging with customers and dealing with those claims quickly and effectively.”