AIRPORT--Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) will have its day in court on June 19. PJIA filed a court case against NAGICO Insurances’ refusal to swiftly assess and honour in full the airport’s multi-million-dollar insurance claim.
The Daily Herald understands from a source close to negotiations that PJIA wants an estimated US $105 million from NAGICO for damage inflicted on the airport by Hurricane Irma last year. The total sum insured under the policies is US $193,359,223.27 for 26 insured items, of which $29.5 million is for business interruption.
PJIA will present its case to a judge demanding that NAGICO honour its all-risk policy. PJIA said it was willing to compromise, but according to the source, NAGICO is offering it only a quarter of the amount requested, which includes the US $25 million in advances made by the insurance company.
According to documents seen by this newspaper, PJIA management believes the damage suffered by the airport was substantiated extensively in the “Corgan Report” of January 2018.
That report, compiled by seven experts in the field, provides for an “Opinion of Probable Cost/Cost Model,” according to which the cost for repairing and restoring the airport terminal to the condition it was in prior to the passing of Hurricane Irma is estimated at well over $100 million.
When contacted on Sunday evening, NAGICO Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dwayne Elgin said the company would refrain from commenting further on the case until the court session.
