Lloyd’s syndicates ordered settle North Korean claim
Syndicates at Lloyd’s of London have been defeated in a legal battle with the Korea National Insurance Corporation (KNIC), which is owned by the Government of North Korea.
The case centred on a claim made by KNIC, which reinsurers had resisted settling because they suspected fraud.
The three syndicates have now agreed to pay out their part of the £35 million claim, after being defeated in the Commercial Court in London. German, Italian, Egyptian and Indian reinsurers are also involved.
According to accounts, in April 2005 a helicopter on a return flight to Pyongyang (having collected a woman in labour with triplets) crashed into a warehouse.
The ensuing fire destroyed the warehouse and the humanitarian relief supplies it contained.
The helicopter operators paid damages to the warehouse owners and claimed their loss from KNIC, which in its turn submitted a claim to its London reinsurers.
However, the reinsurers were suspicious of evidence submitted in support of the claim.
Under the contract, any dispute was to be settled under North Korean law but when a court in Pyongyang ordered the reinsurers to pay up, they refused.
KNIC’s lawyers have since fought the case in the UK and the claim is now being settled, although the syndicates have not been named.
Category: Insurance News, Legal News
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