Israel Aerospace Industries on Sunday filed a damages lawsuit to the tune of 300 million shekels ($90 million) over the loss of one of its satellite in September 2016.
Amos-6, a communications satellite slated to replace the aging Amos-2 that was launched into orbit in 2003, was destroyed on Sept. 1 in a catastrophic static test malfunction at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The incident took place just two days before the satellite was scheduled to be launched into orbit.
The satellite was insured by Lloyd's of London underwriters, Peltours Insurance Agency and U.K. broker Marsh with a prelaunch policy of $236 million and an additional €43 million ($53 million).
The insurers have so far paid IAI $215 million in compensation, but a dispute remains over the rest of the sum.
The insurers argued that as a change was made to the test protocols, constituting an additional risk of which they were not notified ahead of time, the coverage should be reduced accordingly.
IAI says the insurers' argument is unfounded and that under the terms of the policy, no notice was required. Moreover, IAI claims that it is entitled to receive restitution in full compensation under a series of provisions in the Insurance Contract Law and the fact they had issued an "all risk" policy that included the satellite's total loss for any reason.
In its statement of claim, the IAI stressed that it has spared no effort to avoid litigation over the matter and has tried to pursue a mediation process with the insurers, saying the suit was filed only after these efforts failed.
"The claim involves a grave case in which an insurer is disclaiming liability at the most difficult time for the policyholder, and is trying to invent in retrospect, with a lack of good will, various peculiar reasons why it is not obligated to pay the policyholder the full compensation due to it," Israel Aerospace Industries said.
