• Commercial insurance is generally an advised sale where businesses make informed choices about the type of cover they need. An adviser or broker will work with the business and advise on the appropriate insurance to suit its needs.
• A very small number of businesses may have a policy in place that specifically provides cover for contingency business interruption arising from notifiable diseases, such as Coronavirus, where its premises have been contaminated. However, as set out by the FCA, this cover is unlikely to cover pandemics, and insurers, therefore, have no obligation to payout.
• Insurance policies are tailored to the needs of the individual business. It is not a one size fits all approach, as the insurance needs of no two businesses are the same.
• Standard commercial insurance policies provide cover against a wide range of risks. This can include damage caused by fire, flood, losses by theft, accidents involving employees and the need for temporary trading premises in certain circumstances (following damage that makes it impossible to continue trading at the existing premises, e.g. due to a severe flood or fire).
• Insurers are supporting their policyholders through this difficult time, and significant effort is being made to pay valid claims as quickly as possible, deal with customers' queries and insurers are working to be as flexible as possible.

• Business interruption insurance covers a business for loss of income during periods when they cannot carry out business as usual due to damage caused by a specific set of perils that will be specified in the policy. It aims to replace certain losses sustained by the business during the period of the disruption. These perils can include damage to the premises caused by incidents such as a fire, flooding or other physical damage. 
• The insurance may compensate the business for any increased running costs and/or shortfall in profits as the result of the event, up to a certain limit that is set out in the policy.

Business interruption insurance is usually offered as an optional extra to business insurance packages, which combine a number of different policies under one premium. It can also be offered as an optional extra to buildings and contents insurance policies in some cases. Most businesses purchase a package of insurance from a broker who will work with them to ensure that they have the appropriate cover for their needs.

• Most policies will provide cover if the premises or equipment are damaged by a named peril, such as a fire, flood or storm, and also often for the breakdown of essential equipment. 
• Some policies may also cover business interruption as a result of people not being able to access the business due to specific circumstances (such as the police cordoning off an area due to an event such as terrorism, a fire, or the risk of a collapsing building etc.). In many cases, this is known as 'restricted access' cover or 'non-damage business interruption' cover and is usually an add on to a standard policy that can cost more.

Standard business insurance policies are designed and priced to cover standard risks. They are therefore very unlikely to provide cover for the effects of global pandemics, and insurers would have no obligation to pay out claims in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes forced closure by the authorities. Businesses may have chosen to purchase cover that will specifically provide for business interruption arising from notifiable or infectious diseases. For specific notifiable disease extensions, cover may apply if other policy conditions are met. However, this type of extension is not commonly included as standard. Furthermore, the likely costs to businesses of cover that would consist of more unusual risks – such as those posed by new diseases – would be prohibitive.

• Most notifiable disease extensions cover specific diseases that will be named in the cover. These are diseases that are well known and understood. If the policy does not allow for all human infectious diseases, then cover is unlikely to apply.
• Some notifiable disease extensions are more general and do not specify certain diseases. In these cases, business interruption cover for COVID-19 may apply if COVID-19 is present at the premises and all policy conditions are met.
• If you are unsure about what your policy covers your business for, check with the broker you purchased the policy from or your insurer if you purchased it directly.

• Some coverage may exist if the business has purchased a 'non-damage, denial of access' extension to a business interruption policy. Again, purchase of these extensions tends to be rare, and this is not generally covered under standard business interruption policies.
• Generally, 'denial of access' cover applies to cordoned off areas and the loss of trade resulting from a denial of access to the premises (e.g. as a result of a police cordon). If a business is forced to close or is told to shut by an appropriate authority or is cordoned off, this could trigger a claim under a 'non-damage, denial of access' business interruption extension if the infectious disease cover is unspecified or if it includes COVID-19.

As Government restrictions begin to be lifted, certain businesses are able to open again. Alongside complying with government guidance regarding safety measures and social distancing, your insurer may be able to provide you with sector-specific guidance to help you reopen safely. If your business is able to open, but you have chosen not to reopen, you should contact your insurer to advise them that your premises remains unoccupied.

If a business is still required to temporarily close due to government COVID-19 restrictions, insurers will be flexible around the period of unoccupancy specified in the policy document. However, the lifting of travel restrictions will mean that in most cases you are able to resume checking on your unoccupied premises regularly and carrying out normal risk management processes and you should do so unless prevented by any government or local restrictions.

If you are unable to visit your premises, or there are any specific requirements as part of your insurance contract that you are unable or unlikely to be able to comply with (such as on-site security), speak to your insurer or insurance advisor/broker.

Restrictions will differ between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and you should check you are adhering to the law and guidance of the relevant administration.

The ABI members listed below have made it clear that they will not be deducting the Local Authority Grant, the Small Business Grant and the Leisure/Retail/Hospitality grants, Local Restrictions Support Grant (closed), Local Restrictions Support Grant (open), Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) and the Local Restrictions Support Grant (LRSG (Closed) Addendum),or their equivalents in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, from any Covid-19 claims payments. In the minority of cases where this has already happened, each firm concerned will review these claims and reach out to claimants in relation to adjusting the settlement accordingly.

The firms are: 

• Ageas,
• Allianz,
• Aviva,
• Axa XL
• Axa,
• Chubb,
• Covea,
• Direct Line Group,
• Ecclesiastical,
• Hiscox,
• NFU Mutual,
• QBE,
• RSA,
• Zurich,

The FCA has given clear guidance to firms on how they should approach any decisions on a case by case basis. Anyone concerned should contact their broker or insurer in the first instance. As a general principle when assessing claims, insurers would not expect customers to claim for losses to income that have already been compensated from elsewhere.

• Business insurance helps to protect business owners and independent professionals against everyday risks, such as accidents in the workplace and associated public liability, stock or premises damage, legal costs and cyber-attacks. There are also some types of insurance that a business is legally obliged to have, such as employer's liability and commercial motor insurance.
• Even in a time when a business may be unable to operate as usual due to the impacts of COVID-19, it's important that businesses remain covered for standard risks, many of which may be more likely when the property is unoccupied, such as vandalism of the property, theft of stock or equipment, or even loss of information or damage to IT systems and networks. 
• Every day insurers pay out £22 million to help firms cope with these unwelcome events. It would be a terrible outcome for a business without adequate insurance cover to experience significant damage while temporarily closed, which would delay their ability to get back up and running once permitted to do so. 

• In general, the cover provided by cyber insurance policies will be unaffected, and policies will cover working from home/remote working. Cyber incidents such as phishing emails or inadvertent data leak will continue to be covered as normal. Some insurers may require their policyholders to notify them, so it is prudent to contact your insurance provider directly to check your cyber insurance cover is still adequate.
• Businesses should continue to follow the advice produced by the National Cyber Security Centre on secure home working to ensure cybersecurity remains at a high level and IT systems are protected during these difficult times.