CED Claims and CED Cross Border Claims can rejoice in continued growth: more business with existing customers and from new customers. One of those new customers is the Dutch Nuclear Pool – a very special customer in the insurance world. One of those customers for whom you hope you will never have to settle a claim.
The Nuclear Pool is part of De Vereende, the Dutch specialist in special risks and complex claims. They are known for, among other things, the Dutch Motor Insurers' Bureau and the Motor Traffic Guarantee Fund. They also manage a Terrorism Pool and a Nuclear Pool. The Nuclear Pool (full name: Vereniging Nederlandse Pool voor Verzekering van Atoomrisico's) insures nuclear risks in the Netherlands and acts as a reinsurer for foreign nuclear pools.
Insuring complex risks
Nuclear installations are difficult to insure, and damage resulting from nuclear reactions is excluded from coverage in many policy conditions. Because damage and liability associated with nuclear installations are so significant, insurers cannot bear nuclear risks alone. In addition, there are only a limited number of nuclear objects in the world, which means that the knowledge required to insure them is also restricted. That is why a special insurance system has been set up for this purpose, known as the Interpooling system. Under this system, nuclear pools from 28 countries work together to share risks and exchange knowledge. In addition to optimal risk spreading, this has provided a wealth of experience and expertise for over 60 years.
Borssele, a nuclear plant in the Netherlands
Research reactor at Delft, the Netherlands
Borssele: an example
The Dutch Nuclear Pool is therefore responsible for insuring the liability of nuclear installations in the Netherlands. These are: the nuclear power plant in Borssele, the Central Storage Facility for Radioactive Waste in Vlissingen, PALLAS in Petten for the production of radioisotopes, the research reactor at Delft University of Technology, and the Urenco uranium enrichment plant in Almelo. For example, in the nuclear liability policy for the nuclear power plant in Borssele, 18 foreign pools are involved in addition to the Dutch Nuclear Pool, and backed by a multitude of individual insurers.
Contingency provision
As administrator of the Nuclear Pool for the Dutch insurance market, De Vereende asked CED Claims to handle claims settlement in the event of a nuclear disaster. The necessary functionalities for this are being incorporated into the automated claims handling platform, CED Connect. Because CED operates in several European countries, it can potentially relocate these activities to one of the other countries in the event of a nuclear incident, should the Netherlands become uninhabitable. ‘Of course, we hope that this will never be necessary’, says Karin Korstanje, Managing Director of CED Claims. ‘Nevertheless, we are proud of the trust that the Nuclear Pool has placed in us. And of the fact that we can contribute to this valuable emergency provision.’
At the signing of the contract, left: Kevin Remers and Marianna Heezen from the Dutch Nuclear Pool; right: Nico Laan from CED Connect and Karin Korstanje, Managing Director Claims CED Group.