The Challenge
A large U.S. corporation with multiple subsidiaries around the world, had Brazilian operations located in the historic section of the city where they leased a 150-year-old building. Unexpectedly, a water pipe at that location dislodged causing extensive water damage to the third-party tenants. Tenants filed claims against the insured seeking damages.
The Solution
The Brazilian broker submitted the notice of claim to the Sompo Brazil office where the team quickly evaluated the claim for coverage. After a thorough investigation, the Sompo Brazil claim handler determined that the local policy contained an exclusion that precluded coverage. Though the local liability policy issued was considered “good local standard” in Brazil, it left a gap in the scope of insurance being provided.
The local claim handler promptly notified the Multinational Claims team regarding the local policy exclusion. Immediately, they looked to the master policy to see if it would respond to the loss. After reviewing the DIC/DIL endorsement, it was determined that the Master Policy applied to the water damage claim. The Multinational Claims team coordinated with claim professionals in both the home and foreign countries as well as local loss adjusters to bring resolution to the claim and pay the parent organization in the United States. The collaborative effort between the local and global claims handlers ensured a swift and coordinated response, demonstrating Sompo’s commitment to providing seamless insurance solutions across international borders.
According to James McDonald, AVP, Head of U.S. Primary Casualty Claims:
“This had been a challenging claim from submission to resolution. Our Multinational Claims Team was able to sort through the volume of documents submitted and engage our Latin American Office to assist in evaluating the liability and damages. Ian Brewer and our Multinational Claims professionals consistently communicated and followed up with all parties as they sought to bring the matter to conclusion.”
Linda Quartermain, VP, Multinational Claims, [email protected]
Ian Brewer, Sr. Casualty Claims Counsel, [email protected]
James McDonald, AVP, Head of U.S. Primary Casualty Claims, [email protected]
Sompo International Holdings Ltd. (Sompo) is a global specialty provider of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, headquartered in Bermuda. Sompo companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of Sompo Holdings, Inc., whose core business encompasses one of the largest property and casualty insurance groups in the Japanese domestic market. This information is descriptive only. Actual coverage is subject to the terms and conditions of the policies as issued.