COVID-19 and business insurance in Canada
ALIGNED with you. On behalf of the ALIGNED Insurance team across Canada, I would like to help answer your questions about the Coronavirus / COVID-19 situation and business insurance. If the below doesn’t help answer your specific questions about what you need to know about COVID-19 and your business insurance, please reach out as we are here to help.
You have questions. We have answers.
Canadians are concerned and want answers. You likely have questions about COVID-19 and 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.
What you need to know about COVID-19 and your business insurance.
The unfortunate reality is that basically no business insurance policies cover financial losses that businesses incur associated with, or directly resulting from, COVID-19 or any other virus or disease.
For further clarity, we are frequently being asked about two specific coverages. Business Interruption and Interruption by Civil Authority coverages are both triggered by physical damage caused to physical assets. These coverages were not built or intended to cover financial losses from viruses, pandemic and/or diseases.
As a result, there is no coverage for loss of revenue due to COVID-19 under any property insurance policy in Canada to the best of our knowledge.
Not to confuse things as the above applies to more than 99% of the companies purchasing business insurance, but for the sake of completeness I do need to mention that some very specific and standalone event cancellation insurance policies purchased prior to the pandemic might respond in some cases. In addition, the following may apply to some specific industries, programs and/or products:
- If international borders are closed and physical goods can’t be shipped and/or received there might be some contingent business interruption coverage.
- If COVID-19 is explicitly and physically found on your business premises or it has been determined one of your employees is a confirmed case and might have been contagious while on the business premises.
- Specialized viral coverage had been purchased as part of specialty business insurance products typically designed specifically for the health, medical and/or education sector.
In the days and weeks to come, we will provide new content about business insurance products and services that are particularly relevant during this evolving situation.
Renewing or buying insurance? Please read this.
At ALIGNED we have 5 options to make it easy! We accept payments by:
- Premium financing (keep reading to learn more)
- Email transfer
- Credit Card
- Wire or direct deposit
- Cheque
Wire funds and direct deposit payments are available to ALIGNED clients.
Another quick and easy option is email transfers, which can be done through your financial institution. There are only three steps to complete an email transfer.
- Email transfer funds to ar@alignedinsurance.com
- Include your Invoice and Account numbers in the message section of the email transfer
- Send a separate email to ar@alignedinsurance.com with your transaction password
We understand that not one option fits all. For more information on any of these payments options read this blog post about ALIGNED payment options.
If you have questions, please reach out to your ALIGNED Advocate or call us toll-free at 1-866-287-0448
How insurance premium financing works.
ALIGNED guarantees premium financing for all clients and provides this service through its partners First Insurance Funding & CAFO. This provides you with an option for monthly withdrawals directly from your account rather than pay all up front.
Many clients choose this option because spreads their premium payment across the term of their policy and significantly helps their organization’s cash flow.
Note that premium financing of your commercial insurance does not impact your existing credit.
Adjustments can be made easily to payment schedules if a positive or negative endorsement takes place during the policy term. Premium financing is also a great way for clients to consolidate several policy payments into a single monthly withdrawal.
Online. On the phone. Manage your business insurance Canada with us.
Here are five ways you can manage your commercial insurance needs online or over the phone.
- Need commercial insurance? Get your quote started now using our simple online form.
- Buy a number of fully online commercial insurance products right now on alignedinsurance.com.
- Need to renew your insurance? Call us toll-free at 1-866-287-0448.
- Have an insurance claim? Report it 24/7/365. Call 1-844-890-3213.
- Need to pay an ALIGNED Insurance invoice? You can pay online here.
Since day one, we have made it fast, easy and simple for ALIGNED clients to access insurance products and support when they need it most.
Will Canadian insurance companies offer coverage related to COVID-19 financial losses?
Separately, we are paying close attention to see if any insurer will offer any sort of new product that could help protect companies from Coronavirus related financial losses.
To date, there have been none, and we don’t expect any in the near future. Informally, the industry views this situation as similar to insuring a house while it is already on fire.
What we are doing.
There is no change to our operations. We are supporting the safety and well-being of ALIGNED advocates by enabling and encouraging people to work from home if they choose to do so. Our offices are being regularly sanitized and cleaned.
We continue to deliver commercial insurance products that support the needs of Canadian business owners.
We are closely following the latest Coronavirus / COVID-19 Health Canada as well as provincial health updates and are regularly reviewing guidelines with all ALIGNED Advocates.
We are committed to providing the best education and information.
We are continually monitoring the marketplace and are committed to providing regular updates about COVID-19 / Coronavirus and business insurance Canada through emails, on alignedinsurance.com as well as via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Below, please find links to a few recent Canadian insurance articles about COVID-19 that you may find of interest.
You can also bookmark our insurance info blog to keep current and subscribe to our e-newsletter ALIGNMENT Matters on our homepage.
We are in this together.
Sincerely,
Andrew Clark, MBA, CAIB, RF, FCIP, RPLU
President & CEO, ALIGNED Insurance
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