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Prestige Assurance to Pay Victims of Dana Crash Billions in Compensation

By on June 5, 2012

Dana Air owned by the Dana Group and Prestige Assurance have two very things in common. Firstly Prestige Assurance is Dana Air’s insurance company, secondly and  perhaps less important, Prestige Assurace is also owned largely by Indian nationals.

Dana Air reportedly insured the ill-fated MD-83 with Prestige for $ 4.5 million. The company will be liable to pay the family or next-of-kin to the victims a  minimum compensation of $ 100,000 each which totals to about $ 15 million in minimum total passenger compensation. There will also be compensation for the employees families, and the buildings and property destroyed by the crash will have to be compensated.

A rough estimate will indicate nothing less than $ 30 million (N 4.5 billion) in compensation for the damage caused by the aircraft. It is also feasible that after investigations, if Dana Air is found to have acted in neglect, it may be liable to lawsuits, however that compensation will have to come from its own coffers and not the insurance company.

Sunday Thomas, the Director-General of the Nigerian Insurers Association said, “The loss implication for the insurance companies is enormous. I just hope that the plane was properly insured, there were about 153 passengers and crew members in the plane.

“If you look at the compensation that will be due to the individuals, apart from the claims on the aircraft itself, and the ones that will be paid to the third party individual buildings into which the plane crashed, the loss will be high.”