We hope everyone is staying healthy and safe as we strive to meet the needs of our clients/community while caring for ourselves, families and loved ones. Among the many industry issues coronavirus has brought up, the question of BI coverage has quickly hit EMERGENCY STATUS as federal legislators consider forcing insurers to pay claims with excluded coverage.

Please read the message below from national InsurPac Chairman Ray Gallant from Massachusetts. Our government affairs team is pushing back, and the best way to support their efforts is to make a personal contribution to InsurPac. These collective funds help us strengthen our relationships in Congress. It's an election year, and we need them more now than ever.

Robbie Nalley & Tonya Thomason
SC InsurPac Committee

TAKE ACTION NOW

It goes without saying that we are in unprecedented times. As Americans, we will do what we always do: lock arms, and with firm resolve come through this crisis stronger than before. As active leaders of our communities, this is when we shine. I can think of nothing more rewarding as an independent agent than to stand by my clients and friends in time of need. During this time that means passing along information about the CARES Act, Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and Recovery Fund. I’m proud of the work that our national association is doing to disseminate information to us so that we can get it out to our clients, communities, and to our employees.

While we work to help our clients and communities, we cannot take our eye off the ball. Unfortunately, there are some legislators that are taking direct aim at our industry over the issue of business interruption (BI) insurance. They argue that congress should retroactively void exclusions in contracts and force insurers to pay claims for something that was never priced and for which a premium was never collected.

According to industry estimates, a haphazard response such as this would cost between $255-$431 billion in claims per month. Our industry would be insolvent in three months, and our nation’s small businesses would be left without a critical form of protection. Two bills have been introduced in the U.S. House to do exactly this. Even the President has waded into this debate, saying “we can’t let that happen” when talking about insurers denying BI payments over COVID-19.

This is not just a “company” issue. Our commissions, contingency compensation, and even the fate of our profession are in play with this issue! 

By using their strong relationships, our federal government affairs team is forcefully pushing back.  Within hours of the President making his remarks, a group of U.S. senators penned him a letter pushing back on his calls to pay out BI claims. Within days of harmful legislation being introduced in the U.S. House, a group of knowledgeable congressmen pushed back with letters to their colleagues and to the President. It’s no coincidence that our federal government affairs team has strong relationships with virtually all the legislators that have pushed back over this issue, defending our industry.

Your support of InsurPac has helped us develop and strengthen congressional relationships such as these. We must continue to develop and strengthen our relationships with members of Congress. Now is the time to lean in; to double down. With that said, I’m challenging each of you to support InsurPac now if you have not yet done so this year. We have held off conducting a wide solicitation until now, but it’s time to act.

We are on the front lines and must lead by example. Carrier partners, our policyholders, our employees and colleagues need us now more than ever. Let’s lean in and get it done!! Please visit www.insurpac.com/form (no login required) to take action today! Or visit www.insurpac.com with your Big “I” login information to see your donor history and take action.

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