The terms of insurance settlement of large production losses have increased
According to the estimates of insurance brokers and experts, the deadlines for the settlement of large losses between insurers and production companies have increased significantly over the past three years. Payments for a break in production or death of property can be calculated by tens of billions of rubles. The lengthening of the terms of payments is mainly associated with the complication of the calculation of losses.
The deadlines for the settlement of insurance events in the insurance of property of enterprises, as well as the risks of a break in production and construction and installation risks have seriously increased, told Kommersant in the Mains insurance broker. According to the co -owner of Mains, Sergey Khudyakov, until 2022, the average settlement period was a little more than 400 days, now it has grown by about 20%, up to 500+ days. We are talking about the amounts of damage, which are calculated by billions of rubles, he notes. In other insurance brokers, they quickly did not respond to Kommersant’s request.
Until 2022, the number of insurance cases did not exceed 5 thousand per year, the volume of payments was up to 150 billion rubles, the average term from the date of fixation of the damage before payment was at the level of eight to ten months, said independent expert Andrei Barkhota. In 2023–2024, according to the expert, the number of insured events increased by 10-15%, and annual payments on these risks – by 20-30%, the average periods increased markedly and exceeded 14 months.
According to experts, this is primarily due to an increase in the complexity of the loss assessment. The growth of settlement terms is proportional to the growth of the recovery periods in the conditions of sanctions restrictions, explains the partner B1 Tatyana Samsonova. According to Kommersant’s interlocutor, from among the insurers, the assessment of losses at risk of a break in production is complicated by the volatility of markets and foreign currency quotes, which often creates situations when the assessment of the policyholder and the insurance community may differ ten times, and sometimes diverging whether there was a loss as such.
Problems with qualified personnel also intensified, which means that the mistakes of the personnel of the insured companies, including gross negligence, have become more frequent, the professor of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation Alexander Tsyganov points out. Against this background, the number of documents required by insurers is growing, says Mr. Khudyakov.
Also, according to the expert, in recent years an abnormally high number of innovations, requirements and reservations during insurance and reinsurance of large objects have arisen, which leave the imprint and further complicate the process of receiving payments. The appearance of reservations of insurers is largely connected with the policy of the RNPK, the interlocutors of Kommersant say.
In the RSPK, it objects that large losses are quickly settled, provided that the cause of the insurance event is established and the amount of damage is known. “In terms of property, settlement is faster than at the risk of a break in production, for the simple reason that losses for a break in activities cannot be calculated in advance. Payment can be made only after the results of the year become known and you can compare them with planned indicators, ”they explain there. The RSPK cannot delay the terms for payments, since the reinsurer attracts to consideration of large losses of independent experts, the payment is made immediately after receiving the RSPK by experts, the company indicates.
However, for policyholders this is a problem. Mr. Khudyakov notes that customers are dissatisfied with this situation, the settlement is much faster abroad. For customers, this is unprofitable, since during this time the loss is depreciated due to inflation by more than 20%, says independent expert Dmitry Vanin. According to the lawyer Forward Legal, Ilya Ryzhakov, the delay in payments creates cash gaps, reduces liquidity, entails the application of financial sanctions by counterparties.
In such a situation, lawyers recommend to insurers to pay attention to the documentation. It is worth carefully documenting damage, attracting independent experts immediately after the occurrence of an insured event, says Yuri Mirzoev, CEO of the MITRA National Law Company. It is also worth using pre -trial control by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, applying complaints, Mr. Ryzhakov believes.
