UK insurers pay average $41K to COVID-19 BI policyholders

United Kingdom business interruption policyholders affected by the Financial Conduct Authority’s test case have received an average £30,000 ($41,465) in COVID-19 claims from their insurers where claims have been settled and paid in full, according to the latest statistics from the regulator.

By early July, insurers had paid £566.6 million in final settlements, up by about £100 million since June, to 18,958 policyholders. Interim payments, where claims have yet to be settled, totaled an additional £308.9 million, taking the total paid out by insurers to date to £875 million.

Some 41% of U.K. policyholders with accepted COVID-19 non-damage BI claims have yet to receive either interim or full payment, the statistics show.

Policyholders are continuing to file claims for COVID-19-related BI losses, with almost 600 additional claims since June. Insurers cleared 2,252 pending claims during the past month, reducing the number to 6,900.

Hiscox, which has the largest recorded number of BI claims, has settled in full with just 16%, or 1,407 policyholders, of the 8,600 claims it has accepted. Hiscox has made interim payments with a further 1,811 policyholders but still has more than 2,500 claims pending a decision — over one-third of the total against all U.K. insurers.

Canopius Managing Agency, which in June had the second-highest number of pending claims, has cleared its waiting list to just 14 policyholders yet to receive a decision. New India Assurance Company is now carrying the second-largest number of pending claims at 591.

The FCA has published monthly updates on the progress of claims paid since the Supreme Court case in January 2021.

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