Hollard accuses Gondwana of inflating N$638m claim

A MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR clash between Gondwana Collection Namibia and Hollard Insurance Namibia is headed to the High Court, with the insurer saying the tourism company’s claim is heavily exaggerated.

Gondwana is accusing Hollard of dragging its feet with regards to the payment of up to N$638 million in a business-interruption claim.

Hollard is claiming it is owed the right to investigate whether the claim as applied by Gondwana is a proper reflection of what the company could claim under its policy.

Gondwana insured its lodges and accompanying facilities with Hollard, managed by Jaco Lamprecht.

Gondwana says under its policy it is able to claim protection against insured losses that the company has suffered due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the state of emergency and other measures implemented by the government as a result of the outbreak.

Documents submitted before the court show that Gondwana submitted its claim in June last year for “business interruption due to coronavirus as well as business losses due to tourists not travelling and travel ban to Namibia”.

Correspondence included in the documentation shows that the two companies sent each other letters back and forth, mainly arguing that either party does not understand the content and context of the other party’s reply.

Hollard seems to be obliged to pay out the claim if there “was an outbreak of a contagious or infectious disease at the premises or within a 25 km radius of the premises, which prevented customers from visiting”.

In one of the letters addressed to Gondwana, Hollard’s head of claims, Michiel Laker, said: “The claim submitted is for a substantial amount of money . . . and will be properly considered . . . once we have the information we need.”

Gondwana argues it has provided sufficient information to substantiate its claim, including the list of cancelled bookings, as well as future expected losses.

“We are doing a full investigation of all aspects,” said Laker in one of the letters addressed to Gondwana’s managing director, Gys Joubert, adding that Hollard will only respond to the claim once investigations are completed.

Gondwana’s claims that Hollard is delaying the process seem to carry weight too, as in one of the letters Laker apologised to Joubert for delayed responses, before requesting further information dating back to 2018.

Joubert thereafter informed Hollard that the delay in processing the claim was putting his business at risk, as well as the financial security of 1 200 Gondwana employees.

Hollard later responded, saying Gondwana’s claim seemed “to be heavily and unnecessarily inflated”, and that the company was not “providing sufficient information”.

Gondwana thereafter said it gave Hollard access to all its information systems and management to answer all questions.

On continuous follow-ups, documents show that Hollard told Godwana it was continuing to obstruct the “investigation process”, and said Gondwana still needed to provide further information.

By mid-November, Hollard told Godwana it was still investigating, and in December notified the tourism company it was “unlawfully” refusing to comply with “obligations” in relation to information requested.

Hollard then told Gondwana in a letter in early December it was not in a position to make a final decision on whether or to what extent it would honour any insurance claim of Godwana.

On 9 December last year, Gondwana told Hollard it would institute legal action against it, and a case was filed accordingly.

Whether Gondwana is correct that Hollard appears to deliberately delay the claim payout or whether Gondwana did not provide the information as Hollard alleges is what would be brought before the High Court to decide on 31 March.

Financial statements seen by shows that Hollard is a relatively healthy company with an asset value of N$1,1 billion, mainly tied in investments of N$437 million at the end of June 2020.

Cash and equivalents at hand then stood at N$60 million.

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