Insurance Concerns for Hotels and Colleges Offering Pandemic Housing (AM BestTV)

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In this episode of ^AMBestTV, empty hotels and colleges taking on COVID-19 patients or those exposed to the virus may find their insurance policies do not cover the new risk, said Gigi Norris, co-leader of Aon's infectious disease task force, and George Zelcs, an attorney with Korein Tillery. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=hotelsdorms420 to view the entire program.

“A hotel changing its use from a hotel to a health care facility would constitute a material change in its risk coverage,” said Norris.

Should a hotel or college decide to use its facility for health care, then it must take steps to make sure it has proper coverage for its building, as well as any employees on the premises.

“There are liability issues in terms of exposures that would flow from the illness, which COVID-19 patients would have that must be covered,” said Zelcs. “When a policy is written there is a specific risk, which is contemplated in the underwriting process to calculate rates, etc. A hotel has a different risk when having COVID-19 patients occupying that same space.”

Recent ^AMBestTV coverage includes:

• Cotton Holdings’ Executive Vice President: Dust Off Your Policy and Read It: When looking for COVID-19 remediation coverage, “what the exclusion taketh away, the endorsement addeth back,” said Lance Ewing, executive vice president, of Global Risk Management for Cotton Holdings: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=ewing420.
• Former N.Y. Insurance Regulator: Pandemic Risk ‘Crying Out for National Solution’: Business interruption may join terrorism and flood insurance as risks needing federal backing, said Eric Dinallo, chair of Debevoise & Plimpton’s insurance regulatory practice and former New York superintendent of insurance: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=dinallo420.

^AM BestTV covers exclusive AM Best and insurance industry information and reports, targeted topics and key developments in the insurance, reinsurance and related sectors daily. Sign up for alerts of episodes at www.ambest.com/multimedia/ambtvsignup.html. View ^AM BestTV episodes at www.ambest.tv.

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