Axa's termination of its policy insuring the World Cup was "shabby" and could damage confidence in the whole insurance industry, a former minister warned.
The company said it wanted to renegotiate ...
Axa's termination of its policy insuring the World Cup was "shabby" and could damage confidence in the whole insurance industry, a former minister warned.
The company said it wanted to renegotiate its policy for football's international governing body, Federation Internationale de Football Association (Fifa). It said it could no longer calculate the risks involved and wanted to renegotiate the contract.
Ingo Koch, spokesman for AXA Kozern AG, a German subsidiary of the French insurance giant, said the US terrorist crisis had totally changed the nature of risks, forcing the insurer to give notice that it would cancel its policy.
"This was due to the totally changed risk situation we have had since September 11," he said.
"We are interested in renegotiating and we want to find a new solution.
"Risks that were calculable before September 11 aren't any more."
Former Labour sports minister and West Ham MP Tony Banks said: "AXA is acting in a way that can only be described as shabby.
"It's not edifying to find that, when the going gets tough, insurance companies run for cover. That tends to undermine confidence in the insurance industry.
"It makes you wonder what insurance is all about.
"If insurance is all about collecting premiums and not paying out, it's a one-way street."
"They are running for cover and one expects that, at times when the commercial sector is suffering badly, people would at least be prepared to take their share of suffering."
When Insurance Times asked Koch whether AXA was reviewing any policies for possible cancellation, he declined to comment.
