Tsunami victims' families reassured over pay-outs
Insurers in Britain today moved to reassure families hit by the Asian tsunami disaster that they would not have to wait years for a life policy pay-out.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said “reasonable evidence” – and not necessarily a death certificate – would be needed to claim for those presumed dead following the St Stephen's Day tragedy.
Meanwhile, in Indonesia a seven-year-old boy was reunited with his father after wandering for nearly three weeks after the tsunami struck.
The ABI spoke out following reports that without certificates, relatives were being warned by the Foreign Office the finances of the missing – which may include life insurance – could be frozen for seven years.
Malcolm Tarling of the ABI, which has nearly 400 member companies, said it was standard practice to deal with claims, even without a body: “They are not going to say ‘no death certificate, no claim’.
“Where there is reasonable evidence to suggest that the person is missing presumed dead, for example someone was booked into a hotel which was badly affected, then insurers will deal with the claim.
“We are keen to reassure people that whatever other problems there may be, there should not be a problem with life insurance being paid.”
In the wake of the Boxing Day tragedy the Government has announced it is urgently examining the rule which states seven years have to pass before a missing person can be confirmed dead in the absence of a body or remains.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in a statement: “As yet, no decisions have been made, but due to the exceptional circumstances Her Majesty’s Government are urgently looking into it.”
Yesterday, Downing Street confirmed the number of Britons presumed to have died in the tsunami has fallen from 403 to 400, including 51 confirmed dead.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said that the number of other Britons unaccounted for had fallen from 582 to 568.
In Indonesia, the young boy was reunited with his father after the intervention of a British TV news crew.
The child, named Martunis, was spotted by the crew and eventually taken to hospital where he was recognised by another patient and reunited with his grandfather and then his father.
Martunis was thought to have lived on puddle water and dried noodles while wandering for nearly three weeks after the killer wave hit the province of Aceh.
Sky News reporter Ian Dovaston told how the crew saw him on a beach at Banda Aceh as they worked on a story about the tsunami’s effects on fishermen.
“It became clear to our Indonesian driver and helper that he had seen his mother and father swept away, did not know if they were alive or not, and had been wandering ever since. He was swept about two kilometres when the tsunami hit.
“He had mosquito bites and was very thin.
“We took him to the Save the Children office to get medical help for him and to register him, which is massively important.”
Save the Children spokesperson Laura Conrad said: “He was quite dehydrated and clearly malnourished. One of our health experts checked him over and we gave him some warm clothes. Then we took him to a hospital, where he was put on a drip.
“One of the other patients recognised him and went to get his grandfather.
“We did some verification checks on the grandfather, then someone went out to find his father.
“We did some checks on him as well. We were convinced and happy that it was his father, and they were reunited.
“Our registration team have been to see the family. Unfortunately the mother and two siblings are still missing.
“We understand the boy is going to make a full recovery. It’s an extraordinary thing to have happened.”
