Insurance Speak: Business interruption claims & COVID-19

There is a very active debate brewing over whether or not business interruption insurance will cover losses arising from the closure of businesses around the globe due to the COVID-19 virus.

Some states are attempting to legislate coverage into existence. While their intentions may be to provide some measure of financial support for business owners, the practical reality is that the losses were not priced nor paid for before the pandemic and legislating coverage could have a direct impact on the ability of insurers to cover losses from hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and other perils for which they did collect premiums.

A new Insurance Speak podcast examines some of these issues. Erik Josowitz, an analyst with InsuranceQuotes.com, shared some insights on how the questions arising from policyholders may be handled by insurers. “Business interruption insurance was written for physical property damage to premises and needs to cover a loss of income in that instance,” shares Josowitz, “and there are exclusions for communicable and infectious diseases.” However, he also questions what BI is supposed to cover — physical damage or impacts on a business.

He also addresses where he expects to see the greatest number of claims arise and portends what impacts the coronavirus could have on insurance coverage and exclusions in the future.

Listen to the full podcast in the medial player above, or visit our channel to hear this and other podcasts at InsuranceSpeak.libsyn.com where subscribers can listen to all of the latest Insurance Speak broadcasts.

Other Insurance Speak episodes:

• Insurance Speak: As M&A activity booms, here’s what agency owners must know
• Insights for managing a remote insurance workforce
• Wading through the coronavirus maze