Insurers could exclude all acts of terror - Hill

TRAGIC - YES. Enormously costly - yes. "But still all very much in a state of flux," said John Hill, m.d. of Associated Marine, and chairman of the Association of Marine Underwriters of SA (Amusa), when asked to quantify the effects of the US attack on the insurance industry. More billions than most people can imagine, is one way to describe it, Hill added, but any "firm" figures being bandied around are no more than thumbsucks. "It's difficult to give honest figures," he said. "That's to both the overall cost, and what it's going to mean in increased premiums for war risk cover. Complicated calculations are still being done, and anything can be immediately amended depending on the mathematics and exactly what happens next. Whatever we end up with, however, it will be "very detrimental" to both business and the economy in general, according to Hill. An instant repercussion for the international freight industry is the increase in both air and sea freight rates - some by considerable proportions. These as surcharges are imposed to cover the cost passed on to the carriers, and as higher rates in general are introduced to cover the other losses faced by the industry. "And what's it going to do to the SA inflation rate?" Hill asked. He won't hazard a guess where it's going to end up. "But, looking for a worst-case scenario, it is always possible that the insurance industry might exclude all acts of terrorism. Just no cover available at all."