New Caledonia: The insurer Generali will ask the State to reimburse it for sums paid

“The case of New Caledonia is extremely worrying”with damage estimated at 2.2 billion euros. At Generali, “we had 50 million left to pay for”declared Jean-Laurent Granier. “Maintaining order is not the responsibility of insurers, but of the State”. After having reimbursed the policyholders, the French boss of Generali therefore indicates that his company “will file appeals against the State to request reimbursements”.

The insurer Allianz, which has 260 million euros in damages to reimburse on the archipelago, had already raised this summer the possibility of suing the French State for negligence, along with other insurers, estimating that certain damage had take place in places that the State (police, army, health services, firefighters, etc.) had deserted.

Jean-Laurent Granier indicates that it is a common practice which “is part of the arsenal of law” and that the insurer had already initiated this type of procedure after riots in Reunion. “We turned against the state and we won. There we made it known that we hoped that when the appeals were in good faith, there would be no blockage from the State”he clarified.

But the insurer goes further and questions the presence of insurers in overseas territories which are already experiencing a high loss ratio due to climatic events. Especially since reinsurers, who insure insurers’ risks, have recently expressed their concern about the rise in social unrest and riots around the world.

“For there to be insurers, there must be reinsurers”but due to recent riots in France “today reinsurers put France at the same level of risk as South Africa or Nigeria”says Jean-Laurent Granier.

“We are happy to do our job as long as it is possible to do so”more “the State must find solutions or, ultimately, there will be no more insurers overseas. In New Caledonia the two insurers with the largest presence are the German Allianz and the Italian Generali. If the State does not do its job, the shareholders will say: “we are leaving”. You will just have to create state insurance »he insisted.

With AFP