IAG's COVID-19 Update

To our Clients, colleagues, family and friends –

We hope you are all staying smart, safe and healthy through this COVID-19 pandemic.

Your colleagues at IAG are adapting to the remote work life… though I’m personally struggling to find a way to make calls without the exciting background noise of the twins arguing or the dogs barking to enhance a conference call. Add to this the fact the twins are “distance learning” (??) so we’re somewhat supplementing the teaching here at home. Another month or two of this and I’m pretty sure the school district is going to fire me for drinking on the job!

All joking aside, I’m pleased with how well we’ve made the necessary adjustments to provide our unparalleled levels of service so we can continue to deliver on our commitment to serve as an extension of your management team. On Tuesday’s we have a company-wide call to check in and see how everyone is doing. The Team at IAG is blessedly safe and healthy. It helps me, Mark and Jim sleep at night knowing we’re all doing our part to curb this nasty virus.

On these calls we talk about what we’re seeing the marketplace and most importantly, talk over ideas we have about how we can best help and serve our clients and friends. Here are a few of the things happening over the past couple weeks:

·     IAG put forward an idea to liberalize current and future insurance policies to make a pandemic an insurable event, triggering coverage for business interruption in many policies. The mechanism is already in place to deal with terrorism through the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA). All we have to do is either expand TRIA to accommodate a federally certified pandemic as an insurable event, or author new legislation to accomplish the same outcome. Since we first put this idea forward we’ve seen Maxine Waters (D-CA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Zach Finn of Butler University and others push the idea. They’ve even given it a name – PRIA (Pandemic Risk Insurance Act). You can see a draft of the legislation by clicking here.

·     Many carriers have taken proactive steps to recognize their risks have diminished substantially due to the pandemic. Progressive, GEICO, Travelers and many others have indicated they will return some of the premium dollars individuals paid for auto insurance for the months of March and April. So far there’s no consensus on the amount or methodology for these refunds.

·     Recently, the commercial insurance carriers are initiating similar steps.

·     Monday, the CA Insurance Commissioner issued a directive to insurers doing business in CA to refund part of the premiums for at least March and April to policyholders. You can read the entire directive by clicking here.

·     The IAG Team has crafted a strategy to address the uncertainty clients whose insurance is renewing in the middle of this pandemic are facing. We’re working with you and the underwriters to find a way to sharply reduce current exposures to minimize initial premium and conserve your cash. To entice underwriters to consider this approach we’re suggesting semi-annual, quarterly or monthly audits, depending on the size of the business, to adjust premium during the policy period. Our focus is to take as much heat as possible off your cash flow while doing the best we can to maintain the most competitive rates for you. Reach out to any of us to discuss how we can best tailor your renewal strategy to ease the pain.

Tom Faludy, a dear friend, wrote us a very poignant letter about his perspective on this crisis. One of the most interesting observations (at least to me) was his comparison of this event to his first experience in an earthquake. It was particularly visceral – especially for those of you who don’t live in a seismically active area like SoCal. Here’s part of what Tom wrote:

“The damned thing about earthquakes is there’s no place to run or seek shelter. You get no real warning except maybe if you have an alert dog or wake to sudden splashes in your pool. And then it begins. Intellectually you know earthquakes only last for seconds, but viscerally, while the reality of it, and the fact you can’t do **** about it, overwhelms you, you feel like it’s never going to end. That’s what’s *********** the world right now and particularly America. “We’ve” been so blessed never ever having to dodge bombs and tank shells in our neighborhoods. The boogyman and monster hiding in our closet or under our bed was no match for the light-switch Mom or Dad would flip on to make it go away,.. in an instant.”

I can’t think of a better way to describe what our society is going through. The sense of helplessness is what’s so darned overwhelming. Yet there is much we can do. And there is so much we are doing. Every day I’m impressed with the incredible men and women in healthcare. They focus all their energy on helping their patients despite the obvious risks they face. They are truly heroes in this fight. It’s also impressive to see how the researchers are working tirelessly to find both a cure and a vaccine. But what I think is most worthy of praise is how we, as a nation, have found a way to focus on this common enemy and have committed to do whatever is necessary to beat back this nasty virus. It’s a great lesson in these hyper-partisan, ultra-divided times, to remember we’re all in this together. There is so much more binding us together than what little divides us. If we really stay focused on the big picture, no matter which side of the issues we’re on, we probably agree on 85-90% of the matter. Are we really going to let the 10-15% we disagree on divide us? We already know the answer.

There is nothing this virus can do to stop the incredible ingenuity of the human race. We will find a solution – this little bug doesn’t stand a chance.

Stay smart, safe and healthy.

And thank you for the continued opportunity to be of service.