There’s no doubt that the coronavirus has already had a massive effect on businesses across the country.
The government has stepped in with urgent offers of business rate freezes and grants available to businesses.
They range from £10,000 for smaller firms to £25,000 for medium to larger companies.
But the financial help is one thing but how do you keep a business going amongst all this upheaval?
Inevitably demand will drop (if it hasn’t already), staff may be off sick and what happens if the boss is out of action? No, not that!
Insurance is designed to protect against risks which are unforeseen, quantifiable and which underwriters are able to price up based on actual data.
It’s very difficult to generalise about insurance as there is so much in the detail. A good broker (such as Gravity Risk Services Ltd 😉) will be able to talk you through that detail to find the best policy for you.
Insurance is that safety net to be able to keep the business going with potential disruption to supply chain, staffing levels or other interruptions.
It’s highly unlikely that you will get insurance to cover specifically coronavirus – that would be like asking for flood protection just after a river bursts it banks.
But what the current climate tells us is that businesses need to be prepared for business continuity.
In general terms the events triggering a contingent Business interruption claim will be the same as those triggering a direct one. As an example, a shortage of supplies from China could be covered, as the Chinese authorities have imposed many restrictions on the movement of goods and people, and if there’s cover for appropriate authority orders, that should be easy to prove. As should losses from the detention of goods in a port.
Our award-winning advisers would be happy to talk all this through with you – over the phone of course! We all have to do our bit.
For the latest government advice on coronavirus visit https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
