Following the publication on 5/08/2022 of "Beirut explosion: low compensation and tough climate for insurers and reinsurers" [4] article, the editorial team of Atlas Magazine has received several requests for clarification including that of Gabriel Bejjani, Chairman of Nasco Re Holding of which we take the extracts below.
"The occurrence of a catastrophic event sometimes requires years of research to establish the causes of the disaster and the accountability.
For example, the explosion at the AZF plant in Toulouse on 21 September 2001, which caused considerable material damage and the death of 31 people, required 16 years of investigation to establish the criminal liability of the factory owner.
Once the shock of the Beirut explosion is over and the compensation files prepared, Lebanese insurers gradually began to settle motor and property claims.
The proof of non-coverage of an event being the responsibility of the insurers who, at this stage of the investigation, could not formally exclude their commitments, some of them decided then to speed up the procedure and compensate the insured using the adequate non-admission of liability and subrogation clauses. These settlements have enabled Lebanese companies to fulfill their commitments without waiting for the conclusions of a judge subject to significant political pressure.
Hence, the main insurers of the market including Bankers have compensated almost all of their claims with the support of reinsurers who have mostly met their commitments. This emergency initiative has been beneficial to the insurance industry as it has reduced the cost of claims impacted by rising local inflation and soaring international commodity prices following the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. ยป