COVID-19 and Your Business

Wow, what unprecedented times we are encountering. As seen in the flood of correspondence happening every day, each and every business has a put together their own unique plan to accommodate the safety of their employees, clients and in many cases have been forced to change their business model to adapt to today’s environment.

When bad things happen, the common practice is to see if “insurance” covers or helps fill in the gaps of loss. With all the restrictions and orders coming down each day that change our ways of life, the most common question is ……“will insurance cover my lost revenue due to the shut down or slowdown of my business???”

The customary property policy typically is not going to cover lost revenue due to a forced shutdown, slow down or altered model of business. Customary business interruption insurance is only triggered when there has been a direct physical loss to property at or within 1000 feet of a scheduled location. There are factors in policies that make us “hope” we have coverage such as contingent business interruption or civil authority coverage – again both of these require a physical damage loss that is a result of a covered peril.

Are there coverages that might respond to ramifications of COVID-19?:

We are seeing workers compensation carriers react positively in regards to coverage, if the disease was contracted during the normal course of business.

Directors and Officers liability coverage is poised to defend management if it is alleged that they were negligent in their actions, policies and procedures placed to protect the public and their employees from the spread of the virus.

Each day new coverage questions are coming to light – we will do our best to provide resources to provide clarity in such an unsettled environment.