How the End of the Covid-19 Public Health Emergency Can Impact Business's Insurance Policies

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Ever since then, our daily lives, workday, and routines as we knew them were thrown into a spiral of uncertainty and borderline chaos as American’s scrambled to set up office stations to work from home, adapt to new safety protocols and master the art of social distancing.

While it is no doubt America showed their resilience in persevering and adopting to what has been dubbed as “The New Normal”, this presented many challenges for business. Luckily, we have come a long way since the start of the pandemic and the Biden Administration, along with the Department of Health and Human Services, are set to end the Public Health Emergency for Covid-19 at the end of the day on May 11, 2023, marking the end of the 1,157 day long public health emergency.

While many people across the country have been patiently waiting for this moment for over three years, the much-anticipated sigh of relief does not come without its challenges for readopting to policies and procedure we were once so accustomed to. One group of people that are facing some of the most difficult challenges are business owners.

You may be asking yourself, what does the end of the pandemic have to do with Property and Casualty Insurance? The answer is simple, the pandemic affected all aspects of our lives, and the insurance market was just another casualty of its effects.

Many aspects of the commercial P&C market were affected by the pandemic but now the focus shifts to resuming our pre-pandemic habits. As business owners and employees continue to adjust to returning to physical offices to work rather than working from our home offices bedrooms and couches, we will dive into three of the most important items address as a business owner or manager.

Companies have used the pandemic as an opportunity to transition to a fully remote work force while some are transitioning to fully in office hours and others offering a hybrid. ?Whichever option your company has chosen, it is imperative that business owners inform their insurance agent/carrier of all location’s employees will be working from. The last thing a business owner wants to face is a denied insurance claim because their coverage doesn’t extend to out of state or remote employees.

???????????????As employees used this opportunity to relocate, the implications of allowing such changes without updating your insurance policy can be detrimental unless your insurance policy is properly updated. The last thing anyone wants to face in the insurance world is a harmful claim that isn’t fully covered by the insurance carrier and avoid the disaster scenario of not having a claim covered at all.

???????????????On the flip side, pre-pandemic insurance policies may be offering too much coverage if your employee workforce has dispersed to work remotely. Updating your policy with proper locations and values will ensure you are properly covered without paying for coverage or limits that are no longer needed.

???????????????If you are one of the many business owners who has seen employees relocate out of town or state yet still work remotely, it is very important to verify any statues in place from those states that pertain to insurance limits, particularly workers compensation insurance. Not all states require the same coverage limits for auto and workers compensation insurance. Some states even require mandatory coverages that are not required in your current state or covered under the current policy. Verifying the proper limits and coverage are provided by your insurance carrier is a key factor to mitigating your exposures as a business owner. Never assume your policy extends coverage and its limits to another state or that it covers mandated coverage. It is best to verify with your agent or insurance carrier.

Over the past three years during the Pandemic, office buildings, manufacturing plants and other physical buildings have been empty, or operating with minimal stuff, leaving an eerie resemblance to ghost towns.

???????????????Just like humans, machines, equipment, and buildings need time to acclimate to change. In order to provide the safest work environment possible, now is a great time to review risk management procedures and perform safety and building checks.

????????????????Routine checks of items such as your computer network and mechanical systems such as HVAC should be performed regularly. But, with office spaces, restaurants, and manufacturing plants having sat vacant (Or minimally occupied over the past three years), routine checks will allow you the opportunity to make any repairs that could result in property damage from systems that have sat idle. Afterall, getting ahead of potential claims is the best way to prevent them from happening in the first place. In turn, keeping your insurance premiums as low as possible in the current hard insurance market we are navigating through.

???????????????In conclusion, implementing best practices for your business, employees and clients/customers is the best way to be proactive in reducing the amount of insurance claims incurred. Use this time to thoroughly inspect your physical locations, review insurance coverages with your trusted agent and make any appropriate adjustments to your policies and procedures.

Insight provided by,

Kevin Bromley

Business Development Manager/Commercial Lines Producer

Integrated Insurance Solutions Charlotte, NC Branch

585.406.7404 / [email protected]