FRANKFURT--Relatives of victims of the Germanwings Flight 9525
that crashed in the French Alps last week can expect a complete,
fair and swift settlement of insured costs, although final
assessments will take some time, the insurers of the flight and
Germanwings parent Deutsche Lufthansa AG pledged on Wednesday.
"Lufthansa Group and its aviation insurers, led by Allianz
Global Corporate & Specialty, can confirm that all claims
arising from the loss of Germanwings flight 4U9525 will be
addressed fully, fairly and as quickly as possible, in close
consultation with the next of kin of the passengers and their
representatives," the 10-member insurance consortium led by Allianz
SE said. It cautioned, however, that an accurate assessment of the
final amounts to be settled "will not be possible for some
time."
On Tuesday, Lufthansa said its aviation insurers set aside
around $300 million in connection with the crash that killed all
150 people on board, including six crew members.
Still, that amount is based on initial, preliminary assessments
and will be adjusted as full information becomes available, the
insurers said Wednesday. The sum set aside includes compensation
payments to passengers' relatives, the hull value of the aircraft,
accident support and investigation service on the crash site, legal
support and assistance.
Payment for the destroyed aircraft will be handled by a separate
consortium of "hull war" insurers. This will mainly be the Lloyd's
market, the dominant player in the hull-war insurance market,
insurance rating agency A.M. Best says, adding the aircraft was
valued at $6.5 million. A spokeswoman for Lloyd's declined to
comment.
French prosecutors have said they suspected that the co-pilot,
Andreas Lubitz, deliberately flew the aircraft into an alpine ridge
at 400 miles an hour after locking the captain out of the
cockpit.
The insurers and the airline said they would fully honor every
claim on an individual basis. Considering the difficult
circumstances, full analysis and assessment of each individual case
will take some time, they said. Lufthansa last Friday offered
EUR50,000 ($54,000) per passenger to the relatives of the victims
to address immediate financial needs. The payments wouldn't affect
potential further claims made by the families, the airline
said.
After a major loss, insurers usually quickly set aside initial
reserves for payments due to policyholders that are based on a
prudent assessment of the limited information at hand. Those
reserves are then adjusted when more information becomes
available.
Compensation claims for the victims will be met in line with the
applicable national law, the insurance consortium said. Of the 150
passengers and crew on the flight from Barcelona to Düsseldorf, 72
were German nationals, 47 were from Spain and three were U.S.
citizens, according to the latest figures available from Germany's
Federal Foreign Office. But some 14 other jurisdictions are
involved, and some passengers held dual citizenship, according to
the figures.
In similar cases in Europe, next of kin have received some $1
million per victim as compensation. In the U.S., often a
substantially larger settlement is secured.
Isabel Gomez contributed to this article.
Write to Ulrike Dauer at ulrike.dauer@wsj.com
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