CU urges unity on ferry daim
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• An insurance firm which paid out thousands of pounds to claimants following the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster is urging hauliers and other insurers to team-up to demand full compensation from Townsend Thoresen.
Commercial Union says insurers and lorry owners who made losses should all use the same solicitor to press for reimbursement from Townsend, partly because this will save costs if any of the companies decides to sue.
Townsend's refusal to pay the market value of lorries recovered from the wreck could mean a long and costly court action in Belgium, says CU. The ferry company has claimed it is only obliged by law to pay the scrap value of each vehicle.
CU has already paid its four clients who lost vehicles on the Herald the full cost of each lorry, and other insurers are understood to have done the same.
Most hauliers in the case, however, have uninsured losses, including the cost of hiring new lorries, loss of business and the first 2500 of each insurance claim.
One of CU's clients, Ian Rycroft of EC Transport, has already threatened to sue Townsend for allegedly holding up legal proceedings after accusing him of transporting banned chemicals (CM 24-30 September). He says he has been fully reimbursed by CU for his loss.
CU says sharing costs and taking joint action against the ferry company is "common sense", and confirms that the matter is now in the hands of its solicitor, Clyde and Co of Chertsey Street, Guildford.