Dismore challenges insurers over failure to pay riot victims
During the resumed London Assembly Budget committee hearings on compensation for the victims of last year’s riots, Andrew Dismore, Labour London Assembly member for Camden and Barnet challenged the insurance industry on their failure to compensate insured small business promptly.
After the committee, Mr. Dismore said:
“The insurance industry has been putting g out that they compensated people quickly and had paid out on thousands of claims. However, the facts and their own statistics suggest this is spin. On their own figures many people had to wait months for their claims to be settled.
The insurers have hidden behind the problems facing small business in producing documentation when they had lost everything, did not have adjusters able to speak minority languages , and played pass the buck with the police whose duty it is to compensate for uninsured losses under the Riot Damage Act.
There is a clear need for reform and modernisation of the system, but the insurance industry needs to look to making sure that in the event of future occurrences it has systems in place to help small businesses and not to string out claims as they have done, since last year”
