NATSO Foundation

Understand Insurance

Business owners may be wondering what coverage they will have if operations are disrupted due to the H1N1 flu.

The Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs & Business Regulation recommends business owners check their business interruption policies to see what eventualities will trigger coverage under their plan, but notes that such policies typically only apply to property loss. According to the office, it is unlikely that epidemic or pandemic warnings or alerts from public officials will trigger policies. This means business owners will need to rely on existing risk management and business continuity plans to mitigate losses.

Other insurance that could be affected might include workers’ compensation. However, the insurance industry is still evaluating the situation. Robert Jonas, risk advisor for Diversified Insurance Services, explained that for an employee to receive benefits, they must be able to prove exposure to a disease while in the course of employment. “However, because there has not been a large outbreak of disease under the modern workers’ compensation system, there is no real precedent on how a policy would respond,” he said.

The NATSO Foundation Allied Members that can answer specific insurance questions are:

Diversified Insurance Services Inc. (Chairman’s Circle Member)
Contact: Robert Jonas
(262) 439-4700

Brown & Brown of Lehigh Valley Inc.
Contact: Don Blood
(610) 694-1892

Federated Insurance
Contact: Nathan Oland
(507) 455-8935

Martin Rosner Eleftherion Insurance
Contact: Jim Eleftherion
(914) 696-3000

Additional Resources

Insurance Coverage Information from the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation:
http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=ocaterminal&L=4&L0=Home&L1=Consumer&L2=Insurance&L3=Consumer+Alerts&sid=Eoca&b=terminalcontent&f=advisories_H1n1Virus&csid=Eoca

Article from Property & Casualty National Underwriter:
http://www.property-casualty.com/News/2009/4/Pages/Swine-Flu-No-Time-For-Panic-But-Be-Aware.aspx