Ryan Woolley | CEO | Insurance Claims Africa | mail me |
Hollard Namibia’s resistance to paying COVID-19 claims puts vulnerable San community and tourism sector in peril.
We have turned our attention to Namibia, where Hollard Namibia is refusing to settle Business Interruption claims, placing the San community, the tourism sector and conservation efforts in acute distress.
Rejection of claims related COVID-19
Tourism is a priority sector for the Namibian economy. Prior to COVID-19, it was one of the most successful and fast-growing sectors of the economy, accounting for a direct 15% contribution to GDP, or an indirect 40% contribution when taking into account related sectors that service the industry.
It is also a major employer, employing around 120,000 people, a vast number of whom are from rural and vulnerable communities.
The sector is facing an imminent sustainability crisis as Hollard Namibia continues to reject claims related to the COVID-19 pandemic, even though these policies include cover for infectious, contagious and notifiable diseases.
It appears that Hollard Namibia is an outlier, with most other insurers now recognising the validity of these claims following legal precedent set by courts in South Africa and the UK. This includes Hollard South Africa which is currently settling claims in line with the judgements.
Hollard Namibia’s policy wording is identical to those in South Africa, where insurers, including Hollard South Africa has already begun settling claims based on the understanding that legal precedent has confirmed the insurer’s liability.
Delay, deny and defend
Hollard Namibia is arguing that claimants are not cooperating, or providing the necessary documentation required. The opposite is in fact true. After many months of providing all required information to Hollard in Namibia, we believe claimants have gone beyond what is required of a normal insurance claim.
It is Hollard Namibia who continues to be aggressive and obstructionist in its dealings with claimants continuing to deny liability.
Hollard Namibia seems to be adopting a Stalingrad strategy of delay, deny and defend. The simple fact is that extensive international legal precedent has been set that claimants who bought business interruption insurance that includes cover for infectious, contagious and notifiable diseases should receive the pay-outs they deserve.
It is unreasonable and disingenuous to think that the circumstances of Hollard Namibia’s policies with their customers are materially different from COVID-19 BI claims in South Africa, the UK and the rest of the world. They should be accepting liability and moving forward to resolve quantum in a fair and transparent manner.
Notable BI policyholders
One of Hollard Namibia’s BI policyholders is The Naankuse Group. Naankuse is a conservation charity dedicated to preserving the landscape, cultures and wildlife of Namibia.
Besides operating lodges and conservation efforts in Namibia, it has, for more than 17 years, supported the poor, marginalised San community of Epukiro by providing healthcare, education, environmental and tourism projects.
It also runs an Ancient Skills Academy, run by San people from The Nyae Nyae conservancy, who ensure that these skills are preserved and passed onto future generations. It employs 220 people from marginalised communities, distributes over 2 tons of food per week, operates a school for 54 learners, and provides medical care to over 4,500 patients per year, of which 40% are children.
“Tourism is our prime source of funding for all our operations, and obviously, due to COVID-19, that has completely dried up. In addition, we are now faced with crippling legal costs as we try to hold Hollard Namibia to our contract. With no external source of income or relief from our insurer, we have already had to let 40 employees go. We took out BI insurance specifically to prevent a sustainability crisis should something go wrong. We have been loyal customers for over 16 years, paying our insurance premiums on time every month. It is extremely disappointing that Hollard Namibia are placing a most vulnerable community, as well as the future of tourism, conservation and the passing on of ancient skills at risk through their refusal to honour our claims.”
– Dr Rudie van Vuuren, the CEO of Naankuse
Cindy Xushe Ao, from the San community in Tsumkwe, leads conservation horse trails at Naankuse. Her job at Naankuse has been life changing, not only for her personal development, but for her whole family, whom she supports on her salary.
“I am very worried about the future. This job means everything. Without it, my family and the community will struggle to survive.”
– Cindy Xushe Ao
Debe //Ao, who runs the Ancient Skills Group at Naankuse, and is part of the anti-poaching unit, is equally concerned. ‘This job has allowed us to share the San people’s soul with the world. If Naankuse has to close, I worry these ancient skills will not be passed on to the next generation, and poaching will grow. Where will this leave our ability to conserve and protect our wildlife?’
Another Hollard Namibia customer we represent is the Gondwana Group, the largest private sector employer in Namibia, operating more than 20 lodges and camps, car rental and safari excursions. Over 90% of Gondwana’s guests are foreign.
The company, in operation for 25 years, employs 1,100 people, mostly from rural communities. Eight of its lodges are on community owned land, providing the only economic activity in those areas. Most people in the communities in which it operates are dependent on a single salary for their livelihoods.
Gondwana will face Hollard Namibia in court, where it will face an application brought by Hollard that the Gondwana application is not urgent. Gondwana hopes the court will find in its favour and compel the insurer to honour its BI insurance claim, as courts in both South Africa and abroad have done.
Gondwana specifically took out BI insurance to insure it for catastrophic risks, as it had been affected by both the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the Icelandic ash cloud caused during the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in April 2010.
“Hollard has been particularly aggressive and obstructive where it concerns our claim. A year after the first COVID-19 case in Namibia, and despite providing the insurer with all the information that they need, Hollard continues to ignore the numerous court judgments in South Africa and the UK, and are using every tactic to delay and frustrate the process. Most concerning has been its latest move to use Gondwana’s confidential client data to survey our clients despite our express instruction not to do so. It shows complete contempt for confidentiality and a disregard for information shared in good faith. Indeed, it is a breach of the principal of trust upon which the entire insurance industry is founded.”
– Gys Joubert, CEO of Gondwana
