OSAKA -- The Osaka High Court on Wednesday ordered seven nonlife insurance companies and an insurance group to pay a total of 12.15 million yen to 19 people whose homes were damaged in a fire caused by the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.
"The plaintiffs suffered psychological damage because they did not receive sufficient explanations about earthquake insurance, which they could have purchased when taking out fire insurance policies," presiding Judge Makoto Nemoto said in handing down the ruling.
It is the first time a court has ordered nonlife insurance firms to pay compensation for failing to follow through on their obligation to explain to customers about fires caused by earthquakes, according to the plaintiffs' lawyer.