AM Best: Event Cancellation Insurers May Exclude Future Pandemics (AM BestTV)

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In this episode of ^AMBestTV, insurers that write event cancellation coverage are already beginning to exclude pandemic coverage going forward, said Samiksha Gupta, financial analyst, and Sam Hanig, senior industry analyst, both of AM Best Rating Services. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=ambeventcancellation420 to view the entire program.

Hanig highlighted what kind of protection event cancellation insurance provides.

“Event insurance helps provide for circumstances where an event needs to be canceled for unexpected reasons and the insured incurs additional costs because of the cancellation,” said Hanig. “These costs can include lost deposits and down payments. There might be costs associated with rescheduling the venue and there might even be marketing costs associated with advertising the rescheduled event.”

Gupta said insurer awareness about communicable and pandemic diseases continues to increase and influence how policies are written.

“Communicable diseases are usually an optional coverage … and how pandemic diseases will be treated on the policies is generally dependent on the contract language and its interpretation,” Gupta said. “With the 2003 outbreak of SARS and the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak within a span of 20 years, a lot of the insurers are already looking at moving to a complete communicable disease exclusion, going forward.”

To access a copy of this commentary, titled, “Event Cancellation Insurers May Rethink Their Strategies,” please visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=295713.

Recent ^AMBestTV coverage includes:

• Insurance Concerns for Hotels and Colleges Offering Pandemic Housing: 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: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=hotelsdorms420.
• 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.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright © 2020 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.