Malaysia Airlines jet crash insurance may be complex, lengthy

[dipsydoodle]

Insurance on the Malaysian airliner brought down over Ukraine is likely to pay out relatively quickly if the cause of the crash is determined, but observers say settling insurance for the loss of 298 lives and other liability could be complex and lengthy.

Malaysia Airlines said flight MH-17 disappeared at 1415 GMT as it flew over eastern Ukraine toward the Russian border, bound for Asia. Flight tracking data indicated it was cruising at 33,000 feet when it lost contact with air traffic controllers, apparently struck by a missile.

It should be fairly easy for investigators to determine whether the plane was hit by a missile or blew up for some other reason, said Robert Cohn, an aviation attorney and partner at Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C.

"Then the interesting issue is who do you go after as the malefactors?" he said. "Are you going to sue a rebel?"

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/07/18/ukraine-crisis-airplane-insurance-idUKL2N0PT06X20140718

[TreasonousBastard]

1. It won't be a question of paying so much as..

who will be paying. And which nation's laws count for the individual deaths. Otherwise it should be fairly straighforward to assess the damages. Recovering from the malefactors here would likely be impossible, so the insurers and reinsureres will probably end up eating the whole thing.

There's a War Risks exclusion on both their basic hull and liability policies, but normally they buy War policies, possibly from another company or syndicate, to cover such acts of violence (I'm assuming everyone still agrees it's a missile strike). The War policies I used to write excluded war between the Great Powers and/or nuclear events, but things may have changed since then. If for some reason they didn't buy war insurance, it's good chance they have no insurance and the airline is on the hook for the whole thing.