Tazreen owner turns to govt to get Tk 182m insurance claim

The owner of Tazreen Fashions Ltd, Delwar Hossen, has now moved the government high-ups to get insurance claim of deadly fire incident which burnt 111 garment workers alive and injured many, sources said.
Last week Mr Hossen submitted an application to the ministry of commerce (MoC) seeking its intervention so that he can get Tk 182 million insurance claim made to the Karnaphuli Insurance Company Ltd after the incident. The copy of the application was also given to the finance secretary and the president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
The authority of Karnaphuli insurance had turned down the claim of Tazreen Fashions terming the fire incident malicious.
Mr Hossen, in his letter, referring to fire brigade report, claimed that his factory had incurred loss of Tk 192 million because of the fire incident of November, 2011. After that he made claim to the insurance company on December 26, 2012 which three companies, selected by Karnaphuli Insurance, surveyed.
The surveyors in their report said: "The concerned policy does not cover the risk of malicious act. As such we are unable to recommend the assessed loss amount to pay to the insured."
After getting the report from the surveyors, the authority of Karnaphuli insurance closed the file of Tazreen Fashions mentioning it as "no claim".
Mr Delwar in his letter said the survey report was biased and unacceptable since not all the investigation reports proved the incident as malicious.
Managing director, Karnaphuli Insurance, Md Hafizullah, told the FE Sunday that the insurance claim of Tazreen Fashions was turned down on the basis of the survey report and investigation reports from Fire Brigade, police, and Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
He said the survey reports as well as newspaper reports mentioned that the fire incident in Tazreen Fashions was not normal.
"The fire brigade report termed the incident an arson while CID report claimed it as malicious," he said adding fire brigade report is very much important in case of insurance claim settlement.
Referring to the reports, Mr Hafizullah said the building structure was faulty and goods were kept here and there inside the factory. "No fire fighting equipments of the factory were used to douse fire."   
"Tazreen had fire incident coverage with our company in case of a 'real incident'. But the investigators termed the incident of fire an arson and malicious. We are not liable to pay against such incident," he said.
Mr Hafizullah said as controversy on the fire incident has arisen the re-insurer of the insurance coverage- Sadharan Bima Corporation- also did not agree to pay against the claim.
"The Tazreen Fashions owner alongside his banker met me on August 14. He sought my help for resumption of the company. But I said I am unable to help you since the incident was malicious," he said.
"I told him that there were many fire incidents in the past but no factory owner was arrested. Since you have done occurrence, you got the punishment," Mr Hafizullah said.