Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN) shares will be on watch today after giving a business interruption insurance update.
Suncorp is one of Australia’s biggest insurers with a variety of brands including AAMI, Bingle, Vero and Terri Scheer.
What just happened with business insurance?
The insurer told the market that the Federal Court of Australia ruled on Friday about Rockment Pty Ltd (trading as Vanilla Lounge) against AAI Limited trading as Vero Insurance.
This case related to a COVID-19 business interruption insurance claim from a customer in Victoria. It was essentially about deciding whether the pandemic exclusion clause in one of Suncorp’s business interruption policies was valid to exclude losses.
Suncorp said the court’s interpretation is consistent with Suncorp’s position that cover for loss arising from a pandemic is a high risk for an insurer which would normally be excluded.
While the court rejected one interpretation of the exclusion clause put, and therefore answered the discrete question put to it as ‘no’, the court also rejected the insured’s narrow interpretation, and accepted Suncorp’s argument that the exclusion applied broadly for losses connected with COVID-19.
In light of this favourable outcome, Suncorp believes that its overall reserving continues to be adequate in its financial accounts. However, Suncorp emphasized that valuations do not take into account the potential for further COVID-19 lockdowns as well as any unexpected outcomes from future litigation including any industry test cases. As I’m sure you’ve seen, NSW is currently going through a worrying time with COVID-19 cases rising and parts of Sydney being locked down.
Suncorp’s valuations will be finalised as part of its processes for the FY21 half year result to 31 December 2020.
Management comments
Suncorp CEO Steve Johnston said: “Suncorp is committed to working with government, industry and the broader community to explore alternative frameworks to addressing pandemic risks.
“We recognise these are challenging times for small business and we have put in place a range of measures to support them through this period. Unfortunately, pandemics are an uninsurable risk and premiums have not been paid to cover an event of the scale of COVID-19.”
Summary thoughts
I’m not a lawyer or an expert on business insurance, but this clearly seems like a win for Suncorp considering how much business interruption there has been during 2020.
The Suncorp share price is still down over 20% from the level on 21 February 2020. But I don’t think I would want to invest in Suncorp shares for my own portfolio. Insurance businesses seem to get hurt heavily each time there’s a bad year for storms and each time there’s a recession. That’s not an attractive profile for market-beating returns.
I prefer ASX dividend shares that have a more consistent earnings profile like Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) that steadily grow.
