Tauranga business operators suffering losses following the summer of Rena are now able to claim against the container ship's insurers.

The oil spill, the marine exclusion zones, the closed beaches and the widespread publicity following the ship's grounding on Astrolabe Reef last October has seriously affected many Western Bay of Plenty businesses reliant on seasonal incomes.

Nevan Lancaster is the main coordinator of the Bay of Plenty business effort to seek insurance claims from the Rena disaster.

The offer of claiming via the ship's insurers was made to a meeting of affected businesses and their representatives last night, says meeting organiser Nevan Lancaster.

'At 5pm we received an email from the insurance representative of Swedish Club asking if people wanted to, they can make a claim directly to them and that it will be examined, and they will set up a time line for looking at small business claims,” says Nevan today.

'They are actually going to look at business claims which they weren't going to think about 24 hours ago.

'We do have a process and if people, small businesses not interested in a class action suit I'm more than willing to put them in touch with the guy representing the insurance companies.
'He will take their claims. I can give them the forms they need to fill out and put them in touch with the ship's insurance company.”

He thinks the claims path may better suit some operators. It doesn't prevent them also joining the class action path which is still open.

'We are definitely keeping the options open on an offshore class action,” says Nevan.

'And that class action from legal advice we have received, we know it to be a possibility.”
But it is also going to be a long process, and an insurance claim might be quicker. Both doors remain open, says Nevan.

There's nothing to stop a business filing an insurance claim and also joining the class action.

'Both doors are definitely open, but whichever way they want to go there will be a resolution of some type.

'It did hit some businesses really hard, but a lot of these businesses have been around 20-30 years and they will take the hit, but they will be around to wait for a resolution even if it does take a while.

'That's the thing. We are talking to people that are down 50-80 per cent. One dolphin operator was getting 100 bookings a week went down to three a month.

'The key thing is we now have a process whichever way they want to go, where businesses instead of running saying ‘man I'm screwed' can now say ‘Hold on, this is the guy that screwed me'.”