Half of all commercial claims disputed by insurers

New research reveals that half of all commercial claims are challenged by insurers, the Financial Times reports.

Research to be published next week by insurance governance specialists Mactavish will also reveal that insurers take on average 35 months to settle a disputed claim and that the final payment is often for a fraction of the initial amount claimed.

Mactavish found that one of the most common reasons for disputing a claim were alleged breaches of conditions of the policies or inadequate disclosure of information.

The research also found that some of the more problematic policies included business interruption, professional indemnity and product liability.

For large claims, or those classed as strategically significant by the claimant, Mactavish found that nine out of 20 claims were disputed by the insurer.

Furthermore, of the 410 companies included in the study, approximately 40% had made a large claim in the past four years but only a quarter of those said the claim had been resolved to their satisfaction.