Today the Association of British Insurers has issued a statement on the closure of businesses and the impact of COVID-19. It will bring no comfort to most businesses as standard business interruption cover does not cover the situation hospitality businesses across the UK face today.
Little need to read the fine print…The statement highlights that as far as British Insurers are concerned there is almost zero cover provided for COVID-19.
Earlier this month an ABI spokesperson said: “Commercial insurance policies provide cover against a wide range of risks, that can be tailored to the needs of individual businesses, including extensions to cover. Businesses who are concerned about the impacts of COVID-19 should check the scope of their cover, and speak to their insurance adviser or broker.
“A small number of businesses may have cover in place that will specifically provide for business interruption arising from notifiable diseases. However, this type of extension is not commonly included as standard. Standard business insurance policies are designed and priced to cover standard risks and are therefore unlikely to provide cover for the effects of global pandemics like COVID-19.”
To try and avoid a domino effect of business failures across our industry government help is urgently required. Calling on government yesterday for help to counter the current COVID 19 pandemic UKHospitality, CEO, Kate Nicholls said: “This is catastrophic for businesses and jobs.”
Following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s address to the nation yesterday Nicholls went on to say: “The government has effectively shut the hospitality industry without any support, and this announcement will lead to thousands of businesses closing their doors for good, and hundreds of thousands of job losses.”