Santam announced today that it will settle valid claims for all commercial policies with contingent business interruption (CBI) extensions in addition to those covered by its Hospitality & Leisure division.
This announcement impacts the total base of Santam’s 4 000 commercial clients with CBI policy extensions that cover contagious and infectious diseases. Santam previously announced that it would commence the process of assessing and processing claims for policies with CBI extensions in its Hospitality & Leisure division that had been specifically affected by recent court judgments. This impacted 1 300 clients in this division. Large corporate policies in Santam’s Specialist business will be handled on an individual basis due to their bespoke and complex nature.
Santam made the decision to include the claims emanating from all commercial policies with CBI extensions after further analysis and consideration of recent court judgments. Following further engagements with stakeholders, Santam has concluded that the core of the judgments in these cases can be applied in principle to all policies with CBI extensions.
The assessment process for CBI claims requires that businesses provide financial statements and other necessary documentation to support their claims. Clients are urged to work closely with their intermediaries to ensure that the requirements for processing claims are met.
Santam Group CEO, Lizé Lambrechts, said that the matter regarding the indemnity period was relevant only to the Hospitality & Leisure division and represents a minority of the total CBI policies at Santam. The company is appealing the judgment of the Western Cape High Court with respect to the indemnity period.
Click here to download Santam’s full media statement.
