Cape Town - The Federated Hospitality Association of South Africa (Fedhasa) along with More Family Group has collected more than 10 000 signatures in an online petition against insurers over the non-payment of Business Interruption insurance claims.
“We urge the insurance companies to pay out the business insurance claims in good faith, they need to alleviate the devastating impact of the virus. At a time where we are going into the festive season this payout could assist many businesses. Many of our big group hotels have not been able to open and others have been operating at 20% capacity,” said Fedhasa national chairperson, Rosemary Cloete-Anderson.
Fedhasa has been inundated with complaints about insurance companies, she said.
More Family Group chief executive Robert More said: “The reason why we started this petition is because our business and hotel sector is in dire need of this claim and we are raising awareness for the public to be aware of this situation.”
The tourism and hospitality sector sustains over 740 000 direct and 1.5 million indirect jobs, and contributes 8.6% to GDP. It is also the lifeblood for many micro and small enterprises, creating mass employment opportunities across the country.
The sector has been hard hit since March, when the national lockdown started. Insurance companies have been refusing to pay out the business interruption claims of the sector.
Most recently, Santam was dragged to court in a case involving Ma-Afrika Hotels and Stellenbosch Kitchen, which suffered losses due to Covid-19. The Western Cape High Court ruled in favour of Ma-Afrika and Stellenbosch Kitchen. Santam has decided to appeal the matter.
In a statement the insurer said: “Santam paid out more than R1 billion in interim relief to assist nearly 2 500 small and medium-sized businesses in the hospitality, leisure and non-essential retail services with Contingent Business Interruption Cover in the policies.
“These are considered to be advance payments against any finally determined claims, in the event that the courts ultimately rule in favour of the policyholders. Should the courts rule in favour of Santam, then the amounts paid will be considered relief payments and will not be recovered from policyholders.”
Cape Argus