E&O
CURTIS M. PEARSALL, CPCU, CPIA
Policy implications related to COVID-19, be alert For those of you who subscribe to various sources that provide daily compendiums of insurance issues, a topic at the forefront relates to how the insurance industry is addressing the often lack of business interruption coverage for businesses affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. How that plays out will be determined over time. For now, the industry is showing clear signs of reacting to various COVID-19 exposures on a going-forward basis. This exposure is obviously a significant one that carriers seem to have every desire to avoid. Recently, ISO developed its Communicable Disease Exclusion. This exclusion applies to Coverage A–Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability and Coverage B–Personal and Advertising Injury and similarly states for both that:
This insurance does not apply to: Communicable Disease (BI/PD/ Personal Advertising Liability) arising out of the actual or alleged transmission of a communicable disease. This exclusion applies even if the claims against any insured allege negligence or other wrongdoing in the: a. Supervising, hiring, employing, training or monitoring of others that may be infected with and spread a communicable disease; b. Testing for a communicable disease; c. Failure to prevent the spread of the disease; or d. Failure to report the disease to authorities.
Some key issues Here are some issues and best practices that you should consider for your agency. Whether carriers will include this endorsement (or one of their own) on upcoming renewals. Depending on how this is viewed, admitted carriers probably will need to issue a conditional renewal notice advising the insured (and you as the agent) that the upcoming renewal will include some type of COVID-19 exclusion. If the coverage is with an excess-and-surplus market, it is important to note that the standard conditional renewal notice requirement does not apply to them. They
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