Baltic, Financial Services, Insurance, Latvia, Lithuania

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Maxima store collapse in Latvia not covered under insurance policy - Ergo

BC, Riga, 12.04.2017.Print version
Maxima Latvija, a subsidiary of the retail group Maxima Grupe, and Tineo, the owner of the Riga shopping center that housed the collapsed Maxima store, are suing Ergo Insurance over its refusal to pay a claim worth 5.34 mln euros, but the insurer says that the event was not covered under the insurance policy, writes LETA.

"Ergo has insured the assets and business risks of Maxima Latvija and Tineo. The insurance policy covers the Latvian assets of both companies, including against destruction, damage or loss.


However, the policy has a clause saying that the coverage does not apply where losses are occurred as a result of design flaws. Such exceptions are common practice in the insurance market," Edita Boreviciene, head of the Legal and Compliance Department at Ergo Insurance in the Baltic countries, said in a statement.


"According to current data, the collapse of the building in Riga was technically caused by design flaws. Based on the policy, therefore, we deem the event as non-insured," she added.


Maxima said that it had turned to the Vilnius Regional Court over Ergo's decision not to pay the claim after the collapse of the Riga store in November 2013.


According to the statement, Maxima Latvija filed an insurance claim with Ergo Insurance back in 2013, but it has not received the payment yet.


Fifty-four people, including three rescuers, died and dozens were injured when the roof of the Maxima store collapsed in a suburb of the Latvian capital on Nov. 21, 2013.






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