. The mistake is common in policies sold by the major insurers but JP Morgan's senior insurance analyst Siddharth Parameswaran said the exact number of policies affected had not been reported.
QBE said it expects each claim will be no larger than $5 million and the total payments should not exceed the group's reinsurance cover of $500 million. Suncorp on Monday increased its provision for business interruption claims by $125 million to $195 million in the event of an unfavourable court ruling, but this provision was dependent on there not being a third wave or further lockdowns.
The test case was brought by the Insurance Council of Australia to extinguish doubt that pandemic exclusions were valid after the Australian Financial Complaints Authority received a handful of complaints about denied claims. The ICA said it would consider an appeal as well as a second test case to "explore outstanding policy matters" including proximity and prevention of access. "The Insurance Council will continue to work with all stakeholders and government to provide clarity for all parties and the industry."