THE COMMUNITIES AND societies of Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Japan would have been a lot worse if they had not had insurance.
“It’s not a question of belief – the evidence is clear,” according to Lord Levene, chairman of Lloyd’s. “If you look at the effects of the recent floods here in Australia, approximately 85% of policies in the Queensland floods of February 2010 and, again, more recently in the summer of 2010/2011, responded to the event.
“Given the impact of the Chilean earthquake on the country’s industries, communications and infrastructure I was pleased at how swiftly we all got co-ordinated on the ground, ensuring claims were paid as quickly as possible.
“Compare Chile and Japan with the quake in Haiti, and you have your answer,” Lord Levene told Insurancenewsaustralia.com.
He agreed it would have been utterly impossible for the national economies’ and populations’ well-being and recovery if there was not a free-market insurance industry.
“And that’s why, throughout my visit, I’ve been trying to explain the benefits of a commercial insurance industry.
“Insurance and reinsurance is there to help smooth out the losses to business, not to drive up the cost of insurance and the cost of living for everyone.
“The free-market insurance industry is an absolute bedrock of commercial and civil continuity.
“You only have to look at the slow pace of reconstruction in Japan to see how impaired recovery can become where levels of private insurance are inadequate,” he told INAcom.
source: John Heath – InsuranceNewsAustralia.com
