A group of 84 dentists have been awarded more than £380,000 from insurers as a result of delayed COVID-19 business interruption (BI) payouts.
Spearheaded by Salmon Assessors, a two-year negotiation effort has unlocked the firm potential for 370,000 SMEs to rightfully claim interest on delayed COVID-19 Business Interruption (BI) insurance payouts, amounting to an estimated £1.6 billion.
The breakthrough was achieved following copious correspondence and negotiations with one of the world’s largest insurance groups, QBE Insurance, who resisted settling the dentist’s BI claims relating to the pandemic.
Now, an interest payment of more than £386,000 is to be distributed amongst the dental practices represented by Salmon Assessors, amounting to an average of more than £4,500 per affected practice.
Arduous journey
This success also made way for hundreds of thousands of other SMEs whose claims were initially denied by 60 other insurance companies with more than 700 differently worded policies.
Jeff Salmon, CEO of Salmon Assessors, championed this cause, identifying the trouble 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.
Jeff Salmon described the ordeal as a ‘David versus Goliath’ scenario. ‘It was an arduous journey against insurers’ delaying tactics,’ he said.
‘Our persistent efforts and belief in what we believed was a grave 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.’
Professional guidance
Despite wide publicity, Salmon says that many other dentists are still entitled to claim the interest on their settlements but have yet to.
As a result of this success, Salmon confirms that every policyholder affected by the Supreme Court decision can now claim interest from their insurance company.
However, Salmon recommends seeking professional guidance from a reputable loss assessor who has business interruption experience relating to dental COVID-19 claims or an insurance broker.
