The UK government’s Action 2000 group yesterday expressed concern that some UK insurance companies are shying from providing coverage for hiccups caused by the Year 2K bug (CI No 3,435; 3,437). Although the Action 2000 group said it has yet to hold extensive discussions with insurance companies, it believes they should cover those companies that have taken reasonable care to offset damage from the year 2000 bug. Don Cruickshank, chairman of Action 2000, added that the UK government may have to intervene if insurance companies persist in displaying continued unwillingness to provide cover. The action group also noted that although UK companies are aware of the Year 2000 problem, they are still failing to face up to the full extent of the areas that the Y2K bug can strike. Although three in four UK businesses say their systems are in order to move into the millenium, a survey by Action 2000 found that only one third of companies has taken sufficient measures to move their businesses into the next century. Areas that companies are failing to address tend to be those that are trickiest to deal with, including repercussions from other companies along the supply chain and unearthing embedded systems that are likely to go awry.
