Independents validate, but Fidelity defines compensation
The independent technical committee created by Fidelidade to support the compensation process owed to the victims of the Glória elevator accident and their families will validate and issue recommendations, but the amounts will be proposed by the insurer, which will also have the final decision.
In response to Observador, Fidelidade explains that, typically in these processes, compensation is proposed by the insurance company. The commission's role is to validate the amounts and make recommendations regarding compensation. The "final decision rests with the insurer, but is made in light of the Commission's recommendations, which ensures impartiality, technical rigor, and transparency," an official Fidelidade source tells Observador. The same source indicates that the proposed and validated amounts must be accepted by the beneficiaries, who may or may not agree and negotiate a different amount.
“It is standard practice in compensation matters and ensures that all parties have an active voice in the process.”
The same source told Observador that a precedent was set in 2017, following the fires in Pedrógão Grande, Castanheira de Pera, and Figueiró dos Vinhos, when a team of experts was created to define criteria for allocating a €2.5 million solidarity fund. This fund was established to finance extraordinary and exceptional compensation (in addition to insured coverage) to support the families of deceased individuals.
Fidelidade appointed Duarte Nuno Vieira to chair this committee. Vieira confirms having had a contractual relationship with him in the past. Until the end of last year, Duarte Nuno Vieira was the clinical director of Safemode, an occupational safety company within the Fidelidade group, as reported by Público. The company provides services to the insurer, but there was no employment relationship with the specialist, who was not a Fidelidade employee.
An official source from the insurer dismisses any doubts about the impartiality and credibility of this or other members of the committee who have collaborated with the insurance sector in the past.
In the case of the president, the insurer highlights Duarte Nuno Vieira's resume as a full professor at the University of Coimbra and leader of the national and European association of specialists in the assessment and repair of bodily injury, with the same authority within the Portuguese Medical Association. He is "an internationally renowned professional" and "an essential figure in the assessment and repair of bodily injury." Duarte Nuno Vieira was a member of the commission created for the victims of the 2017 fires, led by Romano Martinez.
When asked about the collaboration of other members of this committee with the insurance sector or the Portuguese Insurance Association (APS), Fidelidade considers it natural that some experts have worked with various institutions and issued opinions throughout their careers. However, it emphasizes that these collaborations "do not call into question the committee's independence. What is at stake is the technical competence, credibility, and reputation of its members," which ensures that the recommendations are produced "with rigor and impartiality and without any instructions from Fidelidade."
Fidelidade, the insurer of Carris, the company responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Glória elevator, clarifies that it was not "obliged to create this structure," having decided to do so "as an additional guarantee of transparency, justice, and trust for the victims, their families, and society." It also guarantees that it will not receive instructions from Fidelidade.
The initiative is justified by the "particularly serious" consequences of the accident in the Glória elevator on September 3rd, which resulted in numerous fatalities—16—and injuries to people of various nationalities—more than 20. In addition to ensuring that the compensation process proceeds in a "transparent, swift, and fair" manner, it also aims to involve "leading experts" to monitor and validate the insurer's compensation proposals. Official sources also indicate that no deadline has been set for this process and that the committee will operate for as long as necessary.
The process of identifying beneficiaries is still ongoing, involving contacts with health authorities, hospitals, and embassies. "This is a complex situation involving injured people still undergoing treatment and foreign victims who have returned to their countries." Information on the results will be made available globally (without individualized data) and only at the end of the process.
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