Insurance Services Surrey – Newsletter – Updates on COVID-19
Monday, March 23rd, 2020
In light of
the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, we are issuing this Newsletter to update our
clients on how Insurance Services Surrey are operating and share advice from
the insurance market regarding cover.
How we are operating
Our technology allows our staff to operate from home with access to both
computer systems and telephones. We appreciate that this is a worrying time for
all business owners. Please be assured that all our staff are set-up to help
you in the usual way. Please continue to telephone our main switchboard (01483
532921), or email your usual contact or enquiries@insurancesurrey.co.uk.
Insurers are in the process of adapting to new ways of working, which is leading
to longer response times. Please do notify us of any changes required to your
insurances, or renewal information requested, as early as possible, to enable
us to best help you.
Commercial Insurance
The majority of insurances arranged for organisations in the UK do not include
any provision to cover losses sustained as a result of COVID-19. Business
Interruption insurance is principally designed to cover the extra costs of
working or loss of profit (depending on the cover selected) following physical
damage to property or stock. Insurers generally take the view that an epidemic
or pandemic is a systemic, governmental risk (like war), rather than an
insurable fortuity for a particular business. Some Gross Profit or Gross Income
Business Interruption policies do extend to provide a limited cover benefit in
relation to the authorities closing-down premises due to a specified list of
notifiable diseases, however these do not extend to include new, previously
unknown diseases such as COVID-19. There are a handful of exceptions under
insurance packages for a small number of specialist businesses or charities and
we will be happy to advise further on this.
If you hold Business Travel Insurance with us, please let us know if you have
needed to cancel any business trips as a result of Foreign & Commonwealth
Office (FCO) advice not to travel. Travel insurers will expect policyholders to
exhaust all options to obtain refunds from airlines, hotels and other providers
before settling claims. We will work with insurers to ensure claims settlements
are made as quickly as possible.
Any trips that you or your staff continue to make to anywhere where the FCO
advises against any travel, or all but essential travel, will not automatically
be covered by travel insurance.
Regrettably, travel insurers generally are either pulling-out of providing any
new quotations for cover or are doing so, but excluding cancellation resulting
from COVID-19. We will be happy to advise on any concerns you have about this.
Your plans
Please do remember to let us know if:
- your premises are going to be unoccupied. Most policies include a requirement to notify insurers and to carry out certain precautions if no-one is regularly going to be present during your normal business hours for an extended period, usually 30 days or more
- you need cover for business equipment away from the premises.
Organisations will also need to ensure that appropriate health and safety risk assessments are undertaken regarding home-working and also if children are to be brought into the workplace as a result of school closures. Staff working from home may also need to inform their own home insurers that this is the case. This is especially important if they are likely to receive business visitors.
We do understand that these are challenging times and we are available to answer your queries regarding insurance cover.
Best regards,
The Insurance Services Surrey Team
PO Box 1533
Woking
GU22 2RY
Insurance Services Surrey is a trading name of Insurance Services (Surrey) Ltd, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.