7. Liability policies may respond to coronavirus
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While the initial focus was on whether property insurance policies would respond to COVID-19 business interruption claims, as the pandemic unfolded a key question became to what extent casualty insurance policies might respond, too.
A presentation in February by Marsh LLC outlined how important it was for businesses to review their policies and be aware of claims despite limited coverage for outbreaks of infectious disease and pandemics like the coronavirus.
A story detailing how professional liability and pollution liability policies might respond to infectious diseases in specific circumstances was the seventh most read risk management-related story on Business Insurance’s website in 2020.
More recently, brokers report that the lack of a consistent approach by casualty insurers to communicable disease risks amid an already hard market means that building large towers of liability insurance for certain buyers can be especially challenging.
The good news for risk managers is that brokers say they are pushing back hard against widespread communicable disease exclusions in casualty policies and in some cases managing to narrow exclusions or to preserve disease coverage.
However, in the event cancellation market, which has been crushed by COVID-19 claims, conference organizers facing an uncertain future have not only lost any semblance of communicable disease coverage but face substantial rate increases.
