Chubb declares Israel safe
The Zionist Council of Victoria through principal sponsor Scott Winton Insurance Brokers recently affected change in the terms of an international travel insurance policy when Israel was found to be inaccurately identified on a standard travel insurance policy issued by Chubb Australia.
Sam Tatarka
A community member was renegotiating her family’s annual Travel Insurance Policy through her usual broker, when her attention was drawn to the fact that there was a limitation of cover involved if she travelled to Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Somalia or Chechnya. She was told by her broker that although she was not precluded from going to Israel she would not be covered for more than $100,000 in the event of “A war or civil war” occurring in Israel or the other countries named above.
Her efforts at drawing attention to the absurdity of Israel being lumped in with the other countries did not produce any positive response and so she brought her concerns to the Anti Defamation Commission which referred the issue to the Zionist Council of Victoria.
ZCV president Sam Tatarka took up the issue, enlisting the professional expertise of principal sponsor Scott Winton which is owned and operated by Sam’s brother Ron. Following representations to the Australian management of Chubb its head office in the United States quickly confirmed a decision to delete the reference to Israel in the “War and Civil War exclusions” in a new policy wording due out last week.
“The ZCV is delighted with the fantastic and rapid resolution of this issue and I am personally very proud to acknowledge my brother’s key role using his contacts in the Insurance industry in so doing” said Sam Tatarka.
“Chubb’s response to effective advocacy and community concern is an example of how businesses should take such matters into account in formulating policies that do not discriminate against or demonise Israel in trade or commerce. One of the key mandates of the ZCV is to provide information on Israel to the wider community and in many cases; this involves dispelling inaccurate and misleading information. This time we had a number of people who were receptive to the issues and the ramifications of their policies.”
