Disclaimer – this information not intended as advice but rather as discussion points a business may wish to have with their broker/agent/insurance provider
Business Interruption/Loss of Income
check with your broker/agent/provider if your policy would respond
submit a claim, even if coverage is not there, you may need a denial letter for future reference or for government relief programs
Premium Relief/Deferral
check with your broker/agent/provider for any premium relief or deferral programs
if there are none today, check back with them in a next week - things are changing daily, many are still developing their relief/deferral programs
review your coverages with your broker/agent/provider
some coverages may not be needed or can be lowered during closures / down time / revenue changes
stationary rates for equipment/contents are lower then floater rates
review your gross business revenues with your broker/agent as this may decrease your general liability rate
review your vacancy clause, most providers have increased this from 30days to 60days, again, best to check and get it in writing
Declaration of Emergency - Extension of Termination or Expiry Date provision.
o most providers have put this in place now
o high level, this means that if your policy goes into cancellation status due to non payment, your coverage/policy would stay in place for the state of emergency period plus 30days up to a total of 120days.
o check with your provider
Change of Risk
if your business model has changed, ie retail to online or face to face to virtual,
notify your broker/agent/provider of the change of risk
you may wish to look into privacy breach or cyber coverage
Cancellations/Changing providers now
proceed with caution if cancelling your business insurance – most businesses still need coverage, especially if they have physical space/contents/equipment, and/or sell products that are currently with consumers or are currently selling on line
if you change providers at this time, the Declaration of Emergency - Extension of Termination or Expiry Date provision, may not apply going forward
if you cancel now, reinstating coverage later on may not be available
