Business interruption claims fiasco: tourism, hospitality operators get set for court battle. LISTEN

Insurance Claims Africa (ICA) joins forces with hospitality group Ma-Afrika Hotels in their litigation against Santam, which will be heard in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday 1 September. ICA represents over 700 businesses in the tourism and hospitality sector in their fight to get large members of the insurance industry to honour their Covid-19 business interruption claims.

An update on where things stand

"This sector employs 740,000 direct jobs, 1.5 million indirect, and contributes 8.7% to the GDP," explains ICA CEO Ryan Woolley. "This is a huge sector that's just had the rug swept from underneath its feet."

Following an agreement reached between financial sector authorities – Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA) and the Prudential Authority (PA) – and large short-term insurers in July, a number of insurers have committed to interim relief payments or settlements. Regulators were concerned about the shoddy treatment of policyholders by large insurers, and the reputational damage that their continued refusal to settle valid claims is having on the insurance industry at large.

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