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The insurance industry is blowing it. In my April 9 column, I proposed that insurance companies be used as the conduits for getting government money to battered small businesses like restaurants. The industry wouldn’t be giving out its own dough. It would merely be acting as an agent to get federal loans and grants to …
The insurance industry is blowing it.
In my April 9 column, I proposed that insurance companies be used as the conduits for getting government money to battered small businesses like restaurants.
The industry wouldn’t be giving out its own dough. It would merely be acting as an agent to get federal loans and grants to small companies that need them to resume operations once government restrictions are lifted.
Why insurance companies?
Because most businesses carry what is called “interruption insurance,” so the industry has already been paid by businesses afraid a catastrophe could put them under. And the businesses that took this insurance have already indicated in their policies how much coverage they would need to start up again.
Sure, business interruption policies usually don’t cover things like viruses and pandemics. So the insurance industry — at first glance — might look like its off the hook.
But, wait! Were businesses closed down because of the virus, or because of Washington’s edict that prevented them from opening their doors? That issue will probably be dealt with in the courts for years to come.
But the insurance industry clearly can’t afford to pay all the claims from companies that have been put out of business either temporarily or permanently.
Heck, Washington doesn’t even look like it can afford it. The bailout fund that was set up earlier this month was quickly used up.
And as we have since learned, the money didn’t necessarily go to disadvantaged small businesses. Restaurants and other small establishments have complained that the banks handling the bailout money weren’t taking their calls, even when they had previous banking relations with them, or were simply dragging out the paperwork.
That’s where insurance companies should step in. It would be good for their reputation. But the insurance industry is tone-deaf to public relations.
Since I wrote that column, the insurance industry has faced some heat for its role in the virus. At an April 10 briefing, President Trump said: “You have people that have never asked for business interruption insurance, and they’ve been paying a lot of money for a lot of years for the privilege of having it.
“And then, when they finally need it, the insurance company says, ‘We’re not going to give it.’ We can’t let that happen,” he said.
As I have mentioned, I made sure President Trump saw the April 9 column.
The industry immediately fought back with a letter to Trump, sponsored by seven Republican senators, arguing that allowing business to collect would “undoubtedly undermine our insurance system.”
Robert Hartwig, former president of the Insurance Information Institute, who is now an associate professor at the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business, says, “I can see where you are coming from” with this suggestion. But, he added, the insurance industry is “39 days away from hurricane season. How do we handle two things that happen at the same time” — especially one that is the size of the government’s virus bailout programs?
Well, it should try. Just like all the workers are trying their best to fight the virus in hospitals, supermarkets and nursing homes, and all the cops are doing their best to stay on the streets.
