Hearing in the Chapecoense tragedy will take place in April
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A hearing scheduled for April 20, at the Court of Miami, in the United States, may formally initiate the process in which survivors and relatives of the victims of the Chapecoense accident claim compensation from the insurance broker and reinsurer of the flight of the Bolivian company LaMia. The amount stipulated for the cause is US$ 844 million (R$ 4.4 billion). The amount would be plus interest.
The issue had been suspended since last year because Tokio Marine Kiln had managed to paralyze it thanks to a decision granted by the Justice in London. The company was the reinsurer of the plane that crashed outside Medellín, Colombia, on November 28, 2016, killing 71 people.
“We achieved a very important victory in the London litigation by convincing the English court to suspend the injunction that intended to prevent us from suing Tokio Marine in Miami”, says the North American law firm Podhurst Orseck, in a letter sent to the Brazilian lawyers of the victims on March 23 of this year. According to them, Tokio Marine decided not to appeal.
The families of the victims of the tragedy demand that the reinsurer pay compensation for the accident, since the company holds the insurance policy for LaMia’s flight. The understanding is that the process can be opened in the United States because there is an exchange of emails between the accused dealing with the purchase of equipment and fuel in Miami. In addition, all the companies involved have commercial representations in the country.
Podhurst Orseck is still trying to overturn the London injunction that protects Aon, the insurance broker for the aircraft. The intention of the lawyers is that the multinational is also involved in the compensation action in the United States.
“We continue to litigate in London against Aon, LaMia’s insurance broker. Although, unlike Tokio Marine, the English court was not persuaded to suspend the injunction against Aon, this does not extinguish its claims against Aon”, continues the letter.
In the insurance market, the same policy can be divided among competitors, with different percentages between them. The data is important because Bisa, the plane’s original Bolivian insurer, does not have the financial capacity to pay for the insurance. This, then, would be the responsibility of the reinsurers.
If the victims’ and survivors’ families win the lawsuit, these 13 companies would have to share the policy settlement. It is not yet clear what percentage of each would be in LaMia’s reinsurance.
Tokio Marine created what it called a “humanitarian fund” and offered each victim’s family US$ 225,000 (R$ 1.27 million), with the condition that this would be the only amount owed by the company. Whoever receives it undertakes to give up all lawsuits filed in Brazil or in another country.
The victims point to irregularities in the policy, which would invalidate the arguments of the companies. One of the documents presented is an email exchange between Aon, Tokio Marine Kiln, the owners of the LaMia and those of the aircraft. The messages would show that everyone was aware that there were flights to Colombia.
There is also a question about how LaMia’s insurance was reduced by US$ 276 million (R$ 1.55 billion) from the moment the airline started to make commercial flights and transport soccer teams. The lawyers’ assessment is that the value of the policy should rise, not fall.
In the past, Aon has said that, as a broker, it does not have among its responsibilities the payment of the policy. For reinsurers, LaMia made the insurance invalid when it decided to fly to Colombia. According to the contract, the country is a territorial exception and the airline’s plane could not have taken off there.
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