As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take its toll on the economy, many businesses have been forced to furlough staff or close their doors altogether. Even companies able to stay afloat during this time have experienced financial setbacks from which they will take years to recover. While government subsidies are available for many businesses, available funds run out quickly and can take weeks or months to make it to the business owner. In the meantime, businesses who can’t wait are forced to make tough decisions.
Also in the news of late have been stories on how businesses thought they were covered from an insurance standpoint but it turns out they were not. COVID-19 and other such business slowdowns are not among those things that generally trigger payment under a typical business policy.
James Allen Insurance’s CEO Tim Craig saw a need to cover businesses experiencing this hurt and launched the Pandemic Insurance Policy in March. The policy covers added out-of-pocket expenses and lost revenue associated with the outbreak of disease. Feedstuffs editor Sarah Muirhead caught up with Craig this week to talk insurance and COVID-19.
He noted that while the nation’s food and hospitality establishments have been hit the hardest, some farmers, agribusinesses and, of course, packing plants also have felt the strain. Among other things, Craig noted that his company’s new pandemic policy got its roots from animal disease policy coverage created by the company several years back to protect livestock producers in the unfortunate outbreak of African swine fever and several cattle diseases.
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