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The Coronavirus and It’s Impact on Your Business

Kelsey Swingle Robertson, Shareholder and Commercial Risk Advisor

We’ve all seen the news about how to prepare yourself and your family for the coronavirus, but how can you prepare and protect your business? An outbreak of the coronavirus domestically or abroad could lead to several potential issues for your business: 

  • Loss of income and lost wages due to closing a local office from sickness or governmental mandate
  • Delay in product imports or exports
  • Lost contracts from impacted customers Restricted travel ability
  • Repatriating affected employees

Insurance policies that address most of these concerns are not triggered by economic impacts of the coronavirus. There must be damage to covered property for coverage to trigger, therefore, managing your risk outside of insurance is crucial. 

Foreign policies that offer repatriation expenses for sick employees are available and relatively easy to put in place. These policies typically do not respond to the threat of illness, but will often respond to government travel warnings. 

Manage your risk outside of insurance with these risk management tips:

Review your disaster plan

  • Do you have policies and procedures in place for your employees if you or the government were to close your location(s)

Assess your exposures to affected countries

  • Do you have large customers or suppliers in China, Hong Kong, or Italy? Remain in contact with them to stay ahead of potential disruptions in your supply chains.

Test your work-from-home capabilities

  • Do you have up-to-date contact information for your employees?
  • Is your business equipped for potential work-from-home scenarios?

Talk to your employees

  • Make sure they know to stay home if sick, wash their hands, and leave the office each day prepared to work from home.
  • They should review their health insurance with regards to any illness-related expenses. Outside of healthcare workers, Workers' Compensation policies may not respond to illnesses like coronavirus as they are not work-related injuries.

Consider a travel policy

  • Google and Amazon restricted travel for their employees last week — does your office need to do the same?
  • How would government-imposed travel restrictions impact your business?
  • If you frequently travel abroad, consider a foreign travel policy to cover potential repatriation.
The descriptions of coverages listed in this article are brief and subject to the provisions, limitations, and exclusions that can only be expressed in your policy and related endorsements. For additional information of how Swingle Collins & Associates can assist in meeting your coverage needs, please contact your dedicated risk manager. The information contained in this article is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It contains general information on insurance issues and may not reflect the most current developments in insurance coverage and is unlikely to apply in all factual scenarios. The information does not include all the terms, coverages, exclusions, limitations or conditions that may be contained in the actual insurance contract language. The policies themselves must be read for those details. Sample policy forms will be made available upon reasonable request. Thank you. 

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