In a significant development for a group of dentists across the UK, a prolonged two-year negotiation has culminated in a triumphant outcome. Spearheaded by Salmon Assessors, the effort has now unlocked the firm potential for 370,000 businesses to rightfully claim interest on delayed Covid-19 Business Interruption (BI) insurance payouts, amounting to an estimated £1.6bn.
This breakthrough was achieved following copious correspondence and negotiations with one of the world's largest insurance groups, QBE Insurance, who initially resisted settling the dentist's BI claims relating to the pandemic. The concerted efforts have resulted in interest of over £386,000 to be distributed amongst the 84 dental practices represented by Salmon Assessors, translating to an average of over £4,500 per surgery. Moreover, and vitally, this success opens the floodgates for hundreds of thousands of other SMEs whose claims were initially denied by 60 other insurance companies with over 700 differently worded policies.
Jeff Salmon, CEO of Salmon Assessors, championed this cause, identifying the injustice businesses faced because of the unwarranted settlement delays. These delays were highlighted in a Supreme Court action led by the Financial Conduct Authority, which ultimately mandated insurers to settle BI claims.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has acknowledged that the Supreme Court's decision favoured approximately 370,000* policyholders, primarily SMEs. This precedent-setting negotiation ensures that every business affected by delayed BI claims due to the Supreme Court's decision is indisputably entitled to an interest payment from their insurer.
Jeff Salmon described the ordeal as a 'David vs. Goliath' scenario, "It was an arduous journey against insurers' delaying tactics. Our persistent efforts and belief in what we believed was a sham injustice over two years led us to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FoS), which played a pivotal role in achieving this outcome. However, we were prepared to go to The High Court if necessary."
The path to victory included a test case involving one of the dentists in the group, based in Cornwall. Firstly, the Financial Ombudsman's inspector agreed with Salmon Assessors that the dentists should be paid interest for the settlement delays. Subsequently, because QBE didn't accept the inspector's decision, the matter was escalated by QBE to the Ombudsman herself, who also agreed with the inspector that interest should be paid.
Despite wide publicity, Salmon Assessors confirm that there are still circa 360 dentists who are still entitled to claim the interest on their delayed settlements with QBE and other insurers but have yet to do so.
Dentists themselves can make the claim directly with their insurers, whether or not they are still insured with them. This can prove to be an arduous process, involving direct communication with insurers and their claim adjusters. However, Salmon recommends seeking professional guidance from a reputable loss assessor who has business interruption experience relating to dental covid claims or their insurance broker.