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Hiscox settles claims by action group over BI insurance debacle

Insurer says it now has an agreement with the Hiscox Action Group, which includes many estate agencies, to issue Covid payments.

Nigel Lewis

Leading industry insurance provider Hiscox has announced that it has finalised an agreement with nearly 400 companies including many estate agents over their claims for payments to cover lost business during the pandemic.

The amount of cash received by the businesses, whose interests have been represented by the Hiscox Action Group (HAG), is to remain confidential under the terms of the agreement, but is likely to run into millions of pounds.

In March Hiscox set aside some £400 million to pay compensation to individual firms and those within groups who claim their business interruption insurance policies should have paid out following the pandemic.

Test case

Hiscox and five other insurance companies lost a test case brought by the FCA last year, along with a subsequent appeal to the Supreme Court in January this year.

During the height of the pandemic, when many agencies were hoping to rely on business interruption policy payment to get through the housing market close-down, many accused insurers of trying to wriggle out of their responsibilities.

Now, some but not all have closure. “The settlement is in line with the Supreme Court Judgment and the proceedings have now been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of all parties,” a statement from Hiscox says.

“The parties have agreed that the terms of the settlement are confidential.”=

Hiscox has been and remains a major supplier of public indemnity insurance and other kinds of business policies to estate agencies via broker Gallagher, which is a Propertymark-approved supplier.

June 29, 2021

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