ALIGNMENT MATTERS| Insurance insights & news: What “we” know and don’t know about COVID-19 and business insurance
There is no precedent for what we are all facing, and our primary hope is that you and your loved ones are, and remain, safe and healthy! We are honoured to be an essential service and the entire ALIGNED Insurance team is doing everything we can to help navigate these uncharted waters for our clients and those in need of assistance.
Regardless of whether you are currently an ALIGNED client or not, we are here to help. We are doing our absolute best to keep everyone informed about COVID-19 / Coronavirus issues pertaining to business insurance through the posts we’ve created and shared already and ongoing communication like this e-newsletter.
ALIGNED is built upon the spirit of helping others. I’m so proud of the work our entire team is doing to ensure our clients continue to receive the best advice, experience, products and pricing from the insurance marketplace during these difficult times. Examples of things we’ve helped with recently are:
- Securing emergency high risk coverage in 2 days for a client who has begun making components for ventilators to help in the battle against COVID-19.
- Helping clients secure insurance premium financing to manage cash flow.
- Working with clients to purchase new products like Directors and Officers Insurance, Accounts Receivable Insurance, Cyber Insurance, Employment Practices Liability Insurance and others as these products are particularly beneficial during difficult times.
- Guiding clients on their insurance options and coverage given changes to their businesses (ex. vacancy, closure, launch or new products or services etc.) as well as the uncertainty the pandemic is creating.
Understanding business interruption and COVID-19
We acknowledge that things continue to develop and change every day. Therefore, we are closely tracking emerging developments surrounding business interruption because there is a lot of information as well as misinformation out there. Business interruption due to COVID-19 has quickly become a political, economic, social, legal and insurance issue which will evolve in the coming weeks and months.
We are also keenly aware that there are numerous commentaries and opinions that have been prepared by various law firms, politicians, accounting firms, insurers, industry associations, etc. Some may suggest that current case law supports the trigger of business interruption coverage, and some may indicate the opposite.
Business insurance Canada | During COVID-19 and beyond...
We want to be absolutely clear that we will do everything we can to ensure all ALIGNED clients get any/all claims covered, but we also don’t want to mismanage expectations or provide false hope. Most importantly, we are more than happy to review coverage on a case-by-case basis with clients and will strongly advocate on any/all claims that our clients wish to formally report at any point.
As always, know that we are ALIGNED with you and our focus remains unchanged. We continue to support our clients and answer any/all questions. We are also constantly connecting with our insurance company partners, posting information about COVID-19 and business insurance on our website and sharing insights on social media.
Buying or renewing business insurance Canada? Got a claim? Here’s how to remotely manage…
- Insurance claim? Report it 24/7/365. Call 1-844-890-3213.
- Have a question? Call your ALIGNED Advocate or us toll-free at 1-866-287-0448.
- Need insurance? Get your quote started now using our simple online form.
- Get many fully online commercial insurance products on alignedinsurance.com.
- Need to pay an ALIGNED Insurance invoice? You can pay online here.
Please reach out. We are here to help. Contact an ALIGNED Insurance team member.
If you have questions or concerns, please call us toll-free at 1-866-287-0448. Leave us a Live Chat message on our homepage, send me an email or contact any of us.
We are continually monitoring the marketplace and are committed to providing regular updates through emails, on alignedinsurance.com as well as via Twitter and Linkedin.
Sincerely,
Andrew Clark, MBA, CAIB, RF, FCIP, RPLU
President & CEO, ALIGNED Insurance
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COVID-19 and business insurance in Canada
Canadians are concerned and want answers. You likely have questions about COVID-19 and your commercial insurance. Specifically, most people want to know about Coronavirus and what, if anything, is covered by their business insurance in Canada. Our brokers are working hard to provide answers about Coronavirus and business insurance coverage and we hope the following helps.
We are actively responding to business insurance Canada questions that people are asking us. It is with this lens that we provide this update.
Yes, premium financing is available for your business insurance Canada!
The bottom line always matters. When you run a business, you are always keeping an eye on the bottom line. We are too. This is why we make it simple to pay your commercial insurance premium.
There are a total of five ALIGNED payment options available to our clients. We are committed to making payment of your invoice as easy as possible.
Closed? This information about unoccupied property is important to read
Vacant property insurance 101. You may have just shut down your operations due to a government-mandated closure. Your employees may be working remotely. Or you may be preparing to close some or all of your operations in the near future.
Just because your business is closed to the public does not mean that the commercial risk exposures your operations face are materially less.
How to reduce the cost of business insurance in Canada
Costs matter. When the economic forecast isn’t great as well as when things are running smoothly. Therefore, reviewing business insurance cost is important. Cost reviews are a regular part of your due diligence.
You may assess costs on a quarterly or annual basis. Or during tough economic times, you may be looking at your costs on a monthly or even weekly basis. Certainly costs always matter and we appreciate that saving money is important.
Concerned about business interruption? Here are some insights you should be aware of…
Risk happens. Consequently, protecting your business is vitally important. We know this. Firstly we know this because, after a fire, flood or windstorm, your business needs to have the right property insurance coverage in place to repair or replace your insured building, equipment and/or inventory.
Secondly, when a worst-case scenario happens, your business may not have sufficient funds to keep paying your ongoing expenses.
Business interruption is no joke. Therefore, it’s up to you to learn more about what can and will be covered when a worst-case scenario happens.
If you need help completing a business interruption worksheet you are not alone...
It’s vitally important for organizations to understand how business interruption works. For instance, you need to know how to complete a business interruption worksheet.
Typical Canadian insurance brokers just email an information request with multiple attachments to clients a few months in advance of their renewal. After that, they expect clients to complete and return the documents.
Consequently, clients may feel uncomfortable about asking for help completing a business interruption worksheet for commercial property insurance. They are uncertain about what needs to be included. What’s relevant. What details really matter. We understand.
In conclusion, we’d like to thank you for reading ALIGNMENT Matters Issue 42! Find out more about our story and connect with one of our Canadian business insurance brokers today at 1-866-287-0448! Our experienced commercial insurance brokers are here to help you to determine the types of coverage you need most
