PHILIPSBURG–Pasanggrahan boutique hotel in Philipsburg consists of several buildings, among them the original main building, plus an old and a new wing with hotel rooms. The hotel owners filed an injunction against insurance company NAGICO because the insurer refused to compensate all damage caused by Hurricane Irma in September 2017. The judge decided Friday that NAGICO should pay the hotel US $314,712 for damage incurred to the new wing.
According to the insurer, represented in the injunction by attorney-at-law Aernout Kraaijeveld, the old part of the hotel was not covered for hurricane damage, but only for fire.
NAGICO was willing to settle and pay out $340,000 for hurricane damage to the new wing, but only if the hotel dropped all other claims.
The hotel owners, represented by lawyer Cor Merx, declined this, as they are of the opinion that the total damage is much higher: more than $3 million.
It is stated in the insurance policy that the old wing is covered for “fire only,” the court said in Friday’s verdict. “For the time being it is, therefore, unlikely that there was coverage for hurricane damage for the old wing,” the judge said.
However, the court ordered NAGICO to pay $314,712 for damage to the new wing, as this claim would most likely be granted in a court case on the merits.
Merx said the next step would be to claim the total amount of damage for the entire Pasanggrahan hotel to the amount of $1.3 million in the main case.
“NAGICO is blaming people to torture their good name and faith, but see what the judge did with that: ‘Just pay what you have to pay,’ he said. The amount is just a deposit and not what NAGICO wanted, a ‘final settlement.’ But by stating that, they automatically agree that they are responsible for the damage, and the judge followed,” Merx commented.
Negotiations to come to an agreement in this matter failed in November 2018.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/84969-nagico-ordered-to-pay-pasanggrahan-314-712
View comments
Hide comments