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From Africa to America, businesses and insurers face survival showdowns
Businesses around the world, hamstrung by lockdowns, are facing often-existential showdowns with insurance companies that are reluctant to pay out on business interruption policy claims for a disaster unknown in living memory.
The insurers say many such policies exclude pandemics, require physical damage on premises or do not apply to the widespread lockdowns seen globally. Facing pressure from regulators, mounting reputational damage and a wave of lawsuits, they warn that paying out could sink their industry.
In some countries, including South Africa, France and Germany, insurers are now opening their chequebooks. But for many customers, these settlements or ex-gratia payments – voluntary payouts that do not imply legal liability – fall short.
Indian government keen to speed up stake sale in four banks
India currently has a dozen public sector banks in addition to IDBI, in which the government owns 47.11% while the state-owned insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corp owns a 51% stake.
COVID-19: SC refuses to direct transfer of contributions made to PM CARES to NDRF
The apex court said the National Disaster Management Plan prepared by the Centre deals with all aspects of the Biological and Public Health Emergencies in systematic and planned manner and thus there is no need of separate plan to deal with COVID-19 pandemic.
The bench said the National Disaster Management Authority was well aware of the epidemics and had issued guidelines in the year 2008 itself which has been further detailed in Plan-2019.
Alamelu Panel favours setting up of a Loss Prevention body for the general insurance industry, will aid reduction of premiums
The panel has suggested that the proposed company should be promoted by the IRDAI as well as the industry.
The company may start working on promoting safety and loss prevention in the areas of Property Insurance and motor Insurance to begin with and can expand into all areas of general insurance as well as health insurance in the future.
`The existing loss control practices of the insurers are incidental to the primary function of underwriting. Needless to state reducing the frequency and severity of losses would benefit both insurers and insureds, as the overall burning cost and consequently the premium rate would come down;,said the report prepared by the working group..
India’s COVID-19 tally crosses 27-lakh mark,death toll climbes to 51,797
the death toll climbed to 51,797 with 876 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours
There are 6,73,166 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which is 24.91 per cent of the total caseload, while the number of recoveries has risen to 19,77,779.
Of the 876 fresh deaths reported, 228 are from Maharashtra, 120 from Tamil Nadu, 115 from Karnataka, 82 from Andhra Pradesh, 66 from Uttar Pradesh, 45 from West Bengal, 51 from Punjab, 23 from Madhya Pradesh, 18 from Delhi, 15 from Gujarat, 13 from Kerala, 12 from Haryana, 11 from Rajasthan and 10 from Odisha
Madrass HC refuses to allow reopening of Vedanta’s copper smelter
Sterlite copper smelting plant was shut it 2018 due to environmental concerns. The state government subsequently issued a closure order on May 28, 2018, against the plant, days after a protest against Sterlite ended violently with police opening fire on protesters, killing 13 people.
General insurance industry in Japan to contract in 2020 due to COVID-19, says GlobalData
Sangharsan Biswas, Insurance Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The Japanese economy is projected to contract by 5% in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumer spending in May 2020 had declined by 16% year-on-year. This translates to lower premium collections for general insurers, as businesses scale down their operations.”
The impact on Japan’s general insurance business is most visible in motor and property insurance, which together account for over 75% of the premiums. As per the data from Japan Automobile Dealers Association, new vehicle sales declined by 23% in June 2020, on a year-on-year basis.
Lloyd’s Lab selects Thimble to develop Pandemic Business Interruption Insurance for SMBs
As part of Lloyd’s Lab, Thimble will tackle this issue head on. The startup, known for its instant insurance policies of flexible duration, will develop low-limit parametric contingent business interruption coverage to protect businesses from COVID-19 and future pandemics. By doing so, Thimble will position insurance as a “first line of defense” that pays small businesses immediately if specific criteria are met– essentially providing an “instant stimulus” while governments figure out the rest.
Blow to WHO? EU clinches first Covid-19 vaccine deal with AstraZeneca
The European Commission, which is negotiating on behalf of all 27 EU member states, said the deal included an option to purchase 100 million additional doses from the British drugmaker should its vaccine prove safe and effective.
The EU’s bilateral deal mirrors moves by the United States and other wealthy states, some of which are critical of the WHO’s initiative, and further reduces the potentially available stock in the race to secure effective Covid-19 vaccines.
The EU move could complicate efforts led by the WHO and GAVI, a global alliance for vaccines, to buy shots on behalf of rich and developing countries with a separate scheme.
The Commission has urged EU states to shun the WHO-led initiative because it sees it as too expensive and slow, EU officials told Reuters in July
China grants country’s first COVID-19 vaccine patent to CanSino: state media
Saudi Arabia said this month it plans to begin Phase III clinical trials for the CanSino vaccine. CanSino has said it is also in talks with Russia, Brazil and Chile to launch Phase III trials in those countries.