Santam responds to Cape high court judgment

Santam has taken note of the judgment delivered on Tuesday 17 November by the Cape High Court in the matter between the company and Ma-Afrika Hotels and Stellenbosch Kitchen, related to policies with Contingent Business Interruption (CBI) extensions.

The detailed and complex nature of the judgment, as well as its broader implications, means that it needs to be carefully considered. It will also be important for Santam to discuss the implications of the judgment with all our stakeholders, including reinsurers, in order to arrive at a comprehensive response.

As part of supporting clients while awaiting the outcome of the legal process, Santam has paid more than R1-billion in interim relief to nearly 2 500 small and medium-sized businesses in the hospitality, leisure and non-essential retail services industries that were affected by Covid-19. Additionally, the insurer has to date also committed up to R400-million in Covid-19 funding to provide relief through premium reductions, premium refunds as well as direct support to insurance industry business partners, corporate social responsibility and Government initiatives.

The issues pertaining to CBI are global in nature and are also subject to appeal court proceedings in various countries. The response of the global reinsurers, which are in effect insurers to the insurer, is important in helping us to reach finality on this matter.

We do understand that all parties need finality as a matter of urgency and therefore remain committed to doing our utmost to ensure that we achieve that as quickly as possible.