Middle East Update

I think most of us are aware of events in the Middle East and the knock-on effect it is having on the world. As a company, we felt it was important to provide you with an update on how it might affect your general insurance, following on from my colleague explaining the same points on healthcare.

Firstly, events such as this do tend to have an effect on the insurance market, and one often sees an immediate hardening of the market in relation to War, Terrorism and the Aviation market. Some businesses may have already experienced this and some may see changes over the next few months.

In reality, the market movement tends to occur in the future, after local and international markets, plus reinsurers have seen and calculated the full effects of the costs of these conflicts. As such, other changes in rating may not materialize for a few years. Time will tell.

What we can update you on now are formal announcements that have been made and how this may affect you.

JWS Travel

We cannot comment on everyone’s policies, nor can we give a categorical statement regarding any holders of a JWS Travel policy as each claim is dealt with on its merits. What we can confirm is that in the event of a cancellation of any flight, the JWS Travel policy covers those costs assuming that you are unable to recover these from the airline itself.

Marine Insurance

For those who have Marine cover and have any goods to or from areas in the Middle East, we have been notified by GA Insurance and Sanlam Allianz that all war cover is now excluded. Cover can be obtained from the London market at present, but you will need to contact us if you require this extension to your cover.

For the sake of ease, please see the links below to the two said Insurers’ announcements. We have not had notification from any other local Insurers, but we strongly recommend that if you have goods in that area, that you contact us to check on your behalf.