The New Jersey Assembly committee has moved a bill for the New Jersey legislature to consider that would allow insurers to provide pandemic insurance coverage.
The bill would allow insurers to offer "a rider to such an insurance policy which includes, as a covered peril under that policy, coverage for global virus transmission or pandemic, or both."
The Commissioner of Banking and Insurance is now charged with reviewing and approving, as appropriate, any insurance policy rider submitted by an insurer and designed to provide offered coverage pursuant to the bill on an expedited basis.
The bill was initially introduced in August and is an attempt by the state to address a dispute between insurers and policyholders that became prominent during the pandemic. Business owners maintain that business interruption coverage should apply to losses stemming from the pandemic shutdown, but insurers say pandemics are excluded under most policies.
The bill is AB 4551.
Editor's Note: New Jersey has been leading the pack of legislation associated with the pandemic. In early 2020, the state attempted to pass a bill to force business interruption coverage for COVID-19 shutdowns, which was not voted on. In May 2021, New Jersey passed a law that requires insurers to state whether business interruption policies cover global virus transmission and provide pandemic coverage. You can read more about that bill here.