Friday, April 24, 2020

Insurance Commish Discusses Business Interruption Coverage

Insurance Commish Mike Chaney issued the following statement. 


My office continues to get questions daily about how the Coronavirus (COVID-19) is impacting businesses. Business interruption insurance is vitally important to a strong economy at any time but especially given our current circumstances. 
 

Businesses generally purchase insurance to protect themselves from potential losses. Business interruption or business income insurance coverage are examples of those types of insurance coverage and are usually offered as a supplement (Supplemental Policy) to a business owners property insurance policy to recover financial losses that may result from an interruption or cessation of the business’ operations.
Extra Expense coverage is additional coverage that may be purchased as a part of business owners’ business interruption or business income coverage. Extra expense coverage is complementary to business interruption insurance coverage. It is designed to compensate the business owner for those necessary extra expenses to operate while the business is being repaired to enable the insured to minimize suspension or interruption of the business’ operations.
Civil Authority Coverage is also additional coverage under a business owner’s policy. It covers situations where the business has not been damaged but has been ordered to shut down by civil authorities. 

With the outbreak of the Coronavirus, some business owners may be wondering whether their insurance policies cover losses resulting from a business shut down or other losses related to the Coronavirus. Under the business interruption or business income policy, there likely is no coverage as losses occurring as a result of a virus or bacteria are typically excluded by admitted companies. Non-admitted companies, aka as Surplus lines carriers, may not have the same exclusions in their all peril policies.

This is my advice: Business owners with questions about their coverage should read their policies and contact their agent/broker or insurer directly for assistance. They should consider whether it is in their best interest to file a claim. They should also consider financial stimulus options that may be available from both Federal and State governments.

It’s important to note that, while the Mississippi Insurance Department often helps consumers as an advocate in the claims process, we do not have the authority to require insurers to extend coverage under existing policies the owner may have, especially if there are specific exclusions of Business Interruption coverage.

The Mississippi Insurance Department is here to assist you. Please call my office at 601-359-3569 or email consumer@mid.ms.gov with your questions.
 

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Denials by insurance companies of business interruption claims is going to be this decade's Katrina insurance litigation. Book it.

Anonymous said...

ALL insurance is a scam. Nothing more than gambling and the house always wins.

Anonymous said...

11:44, then stop paying for it. I'm assuming you have the means to self insure?

Anonymous said...

I agree, don't buy it. Ask the people in South Ms with a tree on their house what they would do? I'm an agent so here is my side of this, if this business interruption is paid, within 90 days the companies have projected that they will be out of money to pay your house, car, business claims for fire, windstorm hail etc if they paid this type of claim. Also, the next time we have a flu outbreak you will be expecting it to be paid.

Had there been coverage for business interruption due to a pandemic would you have bought the coverage say $250,000 limit and paid $1,200 a year for the last 10 years? A friend had a liability claim that ran $350,000 from an accident will you pay that scam out of your pocket or the $1100 car premium they paid???

Anonymous said...

Mr. Chaney's statement has a little of the CYA ring to it. Kinda of like "it's not my fault" and "it's not my job." Mr. Chaney is fully aware of what happened to his predecessor, Mr. Dale and the fallout from Katrina. All that Chaney says, I'm sure, is absolutely true, but I am also sure that he does not wish to be painted with same brush that turned Dale out of office.

I didn't say this, but my friend told me.

Anonymous said...

George Dale retired, he wasn't run out of office. The problem with Katrina was that lots of people dropped their flood insurance either because their house was paid for or they were outside a flood zone that didn't required insurance and they wanted any kind of payment. The flood maps were 45 years old and had not been redrawn showing areas that did flood during Katrina but you also had I-10 built after Hurricane Camille that acted as a giant dam which didn't allow a majority of the water to disperse inland and backed it up into Waveland, Bay St Louis and those areas.
Chaney's statement is fact and 98% of the policies are not going to cover any pandemic. The 2% may have a limited amount of coverage under a DIC policy that may provide some coverage but it would be the Casino's or big industries such as Ingall's that might have a limited amount of coverage say $500,000 built into a taylored policy.

By the way, hold on to your hat because your homeowners premium and deductibles are going to start changing due to several years of consistant storms.

Kingfish said...

Dale got his ass kicked at the ballot box. He couldn't even make it out of his own primary.

Anonymous said...

''premiums and deductibles are going to start changing ''........let me guess how. they will be going UP. when the humanoids of mississippi all wet their pants and cheered for all the ''tort reform'' legislation in the early 2000s [remember that] we were told that insurance premiums would go down. tell me, have your premiums gone down?

Anonymous said...

to 3:55...i hope you a young guy cause you gonna wait a long time before the humanoids answer that question.

Anonymous said...

3:55 is right. The tort reformers promised lower insurance premiums which never happened. Of course, President Obama promised that everyone's health insurance premium would drop by $2,000 per year. When I talk to some people, I feel fortunate that my health insurance premiums have only tripled.

Obama was far more dishonest that Tricky Dick Nixon.

Anonymous said...

speaking of health insurance.

I pay over $20k a year in health insurance for a family of 4. I can't afford to go to the doctor and pay the deductible because the premiums are so high.

the insurance commissioner should be working on and prioritizing competition in MS on health insurance.

Anonymous said...

12;45 ....gets it right
blue cross has a virtual monopoly on health insurance in ms
like 90% of the market
insurance companies have total exemption under federal anti trust laws

Anonymous said...

2:50 - You're right. Dale did retire. But only after being a one legged man in an ass kicking contest. Lucky for him, though, in defeat, he waved his hat and left for the PERS plantation.


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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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