A specialist insurance product for the rescue of miners trapped underground has more than doubled its available cover from $10 million to $25 million with a launch of a new consortium in the Lloyd’s insurance market.
The insurance policy is predominantly aimed at hard-rock and precious metal mines, both open-pit and underground, with a focus on Australia, Canada, South Africa and Latin America. The consortium includes insurers AEGIS London, Brit, IQUW, Hampden and Abbot.
Dan Rouse (pictured), International Casualty Class Underwriter, from AEGIS London, said: “The best way to understand how this product works is to put yourself in the shoes of a CFO or risk manager of a mining company during an accident.
Stakeholders will be looking for information and updates; the families of those trapped will need comforting and to be kept informed, and the financial market and the world at large will also need to be managed.
“Our miners’ rescue policy supports all those communications to allow risk managers and management teams to focus on saving the lives of their employees and any third-party contractors trapped below ground.”
Matthew Yeldham, Chief Underwriting Officer at AEGIS London, said: “AEGIS London has a great tradition of supporting the sector and this product will make a real difference to mines and miners around the world. We’re proud to have built this consortium.”
The consortium is supported by loss adjuster Integra Technical Services (Integra), with its Tellintegra claims notification portal, and IRIS, a remote visual inspection tool, which uses mobile phones to send live footage of the situation to insurance and rescue experts.
Paul Latimer, Managing Director Risk Services at Integra, said “We are delighted to support AEGIS London and this product with our specialist mining adjusting team and technology. With lives at stake time is of the essence. Both Tellintegra, our claims notification portal, and IRIS, which provides real-time visibility of the situation simultaneously to multiple stakeholders while storing footage on a secure portal, help to facilitate early decision-making on the appropriate course of action and its funding.”
The consortium’s insurance cover not only pays towards the recovery operation, including hire of equipment, rescue experts, first aid and transportation, but also provides public relations support to help protect the mining company’s reputation.