Egypt Unrest Stirs Claims Conversation

Demonstrations in Egypt have turned more violent in recent days, increasing the chance of property damage.

The Egyptian government has created a fund — 5 billion of its own pounds; about $854 million — to pay claimants of property damage.

According to Reuters:

Tax collectors throughout the country will immediately begin accepting compensation requests from owners of cars, shops and other businesses, Egypt's official news agency quoted him as saying. The size of the fund is equivalent to about 5 percent of the government's budget deficit in the fiscal year to June 2010

This recalls the BP situation from a few months back, in that an unexpected event has forced an entity to come up with a fund quickly (the major difference, of course, that BP is a private company and Egypt is a sovereign nation.) It will be interesting to see how the claims process is handled — though there's still the major question to be settled first as to what the government paying claims will look like.

Meanwhile, Lloyd's said earlier this week that there isn't a danger to Suez Canal shipping. That was before an uptick in violence, but observers still haven't wavered from their view that the canal isn't really threatened. However, some shipping companies are refraining from changing their crews in the area.

Nathan Golia is senior editor of Insurance & Technology. He joined the publication in 2010 as associate editor and covers all aspects of the nexus between insurance and information technology, including mobility, distribution, core systems, customer interaction, and risk ... View Full Bio