Nuclear insurer Chaucer escapes big hit from Japan
Chaucer, one of the world’s leading nuclear risk insurers, said it did not expect to take a big financial hit from earthquake-related damage to nuclear power plants in Japan.
Chaucer said it provided property cover to a nuclear power plant at Onagawa, one of three affected by last week’s earthquake, but its policy excluded damage arising from earthquakes and tsunamis.
The company, which insures nuclear power firms through its Syndicate 1176 in the Lloyd’s of London market, added that the Japanese Nuclear Act of 1961 absolves nuclear plant operators of liability for damage caused by major natural disasters.
“Consequently Chaucer does not expect any significant insured loss to arise in respect of this event insofar as it is relevant to Syndicate 1176,” it said in a statement on Monday.
Chaucer, which in February said it had received a number of takeover approaches, also said it was still in talks with its suitors.