European Insurers are reportedly adopting a "wait and see" attitude concerning potential claims from the blackout that hit the Northeastern U.S. and parts of Canada last week.
Both Reuters and Dow Jones Newswires featured analysis by company spokespersons indicating that they were waiting to receive more information on the power outage and its effects before making any assessments or statements on possible losses.
Most potential claims involve some form of business interruption, and policy terms vary widely as to the extent of the coverage and the type of losses covered. Many commercial policies don‘t in fact cover power outages that are not directly related to the policyholders‘ premises. The fact that no exact cause for the massive blackout has yet been established also exacerbates the companies‘ task in evaluating claims.
