Insurance specialist NDML and the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) are calling on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to release PoolRe funds to “break the insurer deadlock and save the hospitality and leisure industries”.
NDML claims to have identified a unique opportunity that will help the hospitality and leisure industries survive, without crippling insurers with unmanageable business interruption pay-outs putting the insurance industry itself under serious strain.
PoolRe, the UK’s leading terrorism insurance underwriter, has amassed a fund of £6.6 billion, and it is NDML’s belief that drawing from excess capital in this fund will provide the financial breathing space necessary to break insurer deadlock and save businesses.
An open letter has been signed by NDML and the NTIA and is being sent to 11 Downing Street & HM Treasury to petition the Chancellor for his support.
Simon Mabb, NDML’s managing director, said: “We’ve been trying to help and find solutions for our clients and the wider leisure industry since the very beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We’ve pushed and challenged insurers but have reached an unmanageable deadlock. We truly believe this is an opportunity that can future-proof pandemics, and create a solution for today, as well as a plan for tomorrow.
“This is a new idea, and something that hasn’t been done before, but we’re facing circumstances we’ve never faced before, and that calls for innovative solutions to keep businesses afloat, and will save the burden of lengthy and very expensive court cases which are assembling as we speak.”
Michael Kill, CEO for The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), added: “I’ve been representing the night-time industry for many years, and I’m proud to be working with NDML to fight for the small businesses facing critical challenges right now.
“I think any opportunity to save peoples’ livelihoods should be grasped with both hands, and this proposal put forward by NDML seems to offer a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel that will hopefully break deadlock, and support the businesses that need it most right now.
“There’s no time to waste to save our industry, and I’m urging the Chancellor, Prime Minister and Government to release these funds and save nightlife.”
