Storm ahead for insurers over deductibles

Insurers face a potential headache over the issue of deductibles when dealing with claims from Hurricane Sandy.

A briefing from Guy Carpenter on Monday noted that hurricane deductibles could be a point of contention, especially given that several states have indicated that deductibles were not triggered.

However, speaking specifically about New York and New Jersey, John Nonna, partner at law firm Patton Boggs, believes that several insurers in that area will be willing to set aside their potentially successful arguments on this issue in order to preserve the relationship with their clients.

“Considering the devastating losses that many policyholders have experienced, I don’t think that there will be a lot of litigation over this matter,” he says.

“This could build some good will towards the insurance industry that it can utilise in the future.”

The issue of how the storm is categorised could further complicate the issue. Writing in his regular blog on Monday, Roger Bickmore, group business development director at Kiln, said that Sandy’s final categorisation could have a significant effect on which deductibles are triggered.