HOSPITALITY, TOURISM STEP UP FIGHT AGAINST INSURERS

COMPANIES in the tourism and hospitality sector that have been devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic have launched an online petition for insurance providers to pay out on their business interruption (BI) claims. The petition also calls on all South Africans, including businesses, to support their cause and re-evaluate their insurance providers. Many tourism and hospitality sector companies face closure, and the potential loss of thousands of jobs, which they say could be avoided if insurers honoured their contractual obligations and paid out on these claims. Restaurants, hotels, cafes and other tourism businesses took out BI insurance that includes cover for infectious and notifiable diseases. However, companies like Santam, Guardrisk, Hollard, Old Mutual, Thatch and Bryte were rejecting claims, based on their view that the government’s lockdown, and not the pandemic, was responsible for the losses experienced by these small and mediumsized businesses. Last week, the Western Cape High Court compelled Guardrisk to honour the Covid-19 claims of Cafe Chameleon, a restaurant in Cape Town. The judge rejected Guardrisk’s argument that the losses suffered by the claimant were due to the lockdown, and not the Covid-19 pandemic. “All along, insurers have said they need the courts to provide legal certainty that they are liable, before they honour their clients’ claims. We now have that certainty, but we don’t see any insurer stepping up.” said More Family Collection chief executive Robert More, who started the petition.