Southern Cross chairman quoted in context

Southern Cross chairman Dr Hylton LeGrice claimed yesterday that he had been quoted out of context when he reportedly dismissed insurance claims problems as a "hiccup".

His comment first appeared in the Herald after a reporter interviewed him on January 11, when the scale of the insurer's claims backlog was becoming apparent.

* Asked by Paul Holmes on Newstalk ZB yesterday whether he regretted saying hiccup, Dr LeGrice replied, according to a transcript of the interview: "That was taken totally out of context, sir, and it was in relation to a reporter who rang me right out of the blue to say Southern Cross was going broke and wouldn't listen to me about the financial strengths of Southern Cross and what I did say was a remark which insisted that ...

"And at the time I was not aware that our claims ... had quite such a backlog because we were reassured that everything was all right.

"I said perhaps we might think that this was much more of a minor hiccup than the outrageous claims she was making about the financial instability of Southern Cross.

"I totally, of course, regret that absolutely because it was out of context and I am very apologetic about it.

"But I couldn't then answer it because to go and try and rescind something that has been turned around is a difficult thing."

* According to the Herald reporter's notes of the conversation, Dr LeGrice was asked if he or the board were concerned about the backlog of claims and what, if anything, the board was doing to fix it. The question of Southern Cross' finances was not raised by the reporter.

Dr LeGrice replied that members of the board - including him - were on holiday and were not doing anything specifically about it.

They were not concerned because "there's nothing to it".

"It's just a small hiccup. It's a nuisance but that's about all it is.

"The media are trying to engender some nonsense because news is short. There's just nothing to it.

"All it is is a little bit of a delay because we've had to transfer [the details of] 850,000 people.

"It's held up claims a touch.

"We'll be back on track in a few weeks."

nzherald.co.nz/southerncross