Insurance companies begin handling flood claims [Arab News, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia]

Dec. 10--JEDDAH -- Since the devastating Jeddah floods that took the city literally by storm two weeks ago, insurance companies have begun cooperating with policyholders in handling claims. With the latest official figure of 8,828 destroyed vehicles counted as of Wednesday, and an estimated 500 vehicles added each day, insurance claims adjusters will have their hands full for quite some time.Tawuniya, one of the Kingdom's major insurance companies, has recently set up a toll-free phone number and extended working days to include Thursdays and Fridays in order to provide further cooperation to its policyholders.However, this service has only been established for policyholders of Al-Shamel Insurance for Motor Vehicles, a policy that covers "accidental loss or damage caused by hail, flood or other convulsions of nature except sandstorms," according to the company's website.In a statement, Tawuniya said they had already received the first group of claims estimated at SR1.7 million."It is expected that the influx of affected customers in filing claims will continue following the concerned government agencies' finalization of the lists and assessment of damages, including the identification of affected vehicles and actual loss sustained," the statement said.The Mediterranean and Gulf Cooperative Insurance and Reinsurance Company (MedGulf), another major insurance presence in the Kingdom, said they too have geared up to accept claims mainly for damaged automobiles."At this point we are handling claims as normal for the policyholders who have policies that cover natural disaster," said Mazen Nazer, motor claims manager at MedGulf Insurance Company in Jeddah.When asked about an estimation of the amount of claims filed so far, Nazer said: "Currently we don't have any statistics to offer due to the procedure of estimating damages ... and the amount to be paid in compensation," he explained."For example, the damaged vehicle will have to be taken to the garage and inspected to determine the cost of loss and repair, and this takes time," he said, adding that the process would take a minimum of one month.Nazer said policyholders must bring the proper documents from the Civil Defense proving their cars were damaged in the floods in order to begin the claims process.When asked about the issue of paying out claims on homes, businesses and other property, Nazer said: "I don't really think that many people due to the infancy of the insurance market in Saudi Arabia have been insuring their homes or shops. However, we have many warehouses and factories in the flood-hit area that have been insured and those policyholders are just beginning to come forth."Still other insurance companies with head offices in other Saudi cities have begun sending additional staff to Jeddah to help assess damaged property."We are proceeding to Jeddah in order to help in finalizing the settlement procedures of all submitted claims," said Walid Ayoub, CEO of Alkhobar-based Al-Sagr Cooperative Insurance Company."Our current aim is to speed up payment of all claims filed," he said.Most insurance companies are currently playing it safe by only processing claims for policyholders that cover natural disasters. However, the Ministry of Finance has reported that all vehicle owners reporting damage from the floods would receive compensation with insured motorists receiving payment from the insurance company and noninsured motorists receiving a determined amount assessed and to be paid out by the Ministry of Finance.To see more of the Arab News or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.arabnews.com.Copyright (c) 2009, Arab News, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaDistributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.