I believe the mere fact all these states are introducing such legislation and now that there is a bill in the US House along with Trump comments telling insurance to pay is already going to create problems even if eventually shot down by the courts. Who would have thought anyone much less our leaders would think this is a good idea.
Meanwhile, tornadoes ravage states, people crash vehicles, buildings are burning, injured people are taken care of, life insurance protects families, babies are delivered and CoVID-19 treatment is provided – jeez we are an evil bunch….
Just waiting for the sleazeball lawyers to partner up with shady brokers to go chasing after prospects who feel they are entitled to a BI claim, esp where their holding broker has reviewed their policies and said that coverage was questionable at best, or excluded at worst.
What could follow? Clients suing their brokers for E&O for not recommending broader terms, or not willing to pursue a settlement from the property carrier – after all those loss-free years?
I’m not sure why insurance industry people assume that it would be unallowable for the government to interfere with our “private contracts”. Look what has already happened in housing. You can’t evict someone in many states right now, interfering with their private lease. A mortgage company can’t foreclose, interfering with their private loan. Contracts don’t mean anything to legislators trying to get reelected. Insurance companies are a very on-trend target anyway. It’s easy to demonize the evil out of state insurance company making billions on the backs of the innocent citizens of your state and your favorite little family owned coffee shop.
There is a difference in temporarily suspending provisions of a private contract and permanently altering the contract.
I do agree there are legislators who are either too ignorant or willfully ignore contract law to appropriately act. We are in an era of greater populous governance. The mob has even greater influence in the courts and legislature now then over the last several decades.Greed and Envy are powerful tools for politicians.
Comments I passed on to my clients who asked my opinion:
unbiased opinion:
1)The industry would go belly-up if they covered all business interruption claims
2)if forced to pay the carrier’s would never know if their exclusions would ever apply
3)impossible to price had it been covered &
4)exclusions have been applicable since SARS & Ebola … just my 2 cents.. stay safe…
It is a challenge when legislation can over ride exclusions after an event has occurred. The process places much more uncertainty for capital invested in insurance. In a sense, the government can take money directly from designated sources to pay for anything.
Leaders in the insurance industry are doing a good job of beating back these efforts. There are already those in Congress who understand why these bills are unworkable and are working on a solution where the Feds are a backstop. The issue which will get politicians attention is that if any of these bills are passed, the industry will fight them to the Supreme Court, which will take years, and many small business owners will be long out of business before the issues are resolved. I fully believe things will turn to a workable, much quicker solution. It’s OK to call me naive and stupid, but that is what I think will happen.
Congress lives in a world of delusion. They are unable or unwilling to recognize that unlike insurance industry capital surplus, a pandemic is not finite having no limit either for for time or quantum. Evan Greenberg stated the case perfectly.
Our current environment contains the social pressure term of “science-denier” used to direct outcomes. The Assemblyman wants to use ‘unconscionable’ to generate the same social pressure. In doing so, he and others of his mindset, regarding pandemic coverage, are denying math.
Plus, if this issue, present since at least 2006, is so ‘unconscionable’, a legislative solution could have been provided in that 14 year period. Pandemics are not new. I would prefer a state/federal pandemic insurance group. I would find a state/federal reinsurance solution to be a nightmare for insurance carriers.
Idly thinking: Aren’t insurance companies also businesses, and aren’t they also experiencing the impacts and consequences of COVID-19, including shut-downs that affect their ability to write new business? Why is it that every time there is some sort of wide-spread financial-type of crisis, people (i.e., legislators) act as if the insurance industry is some sort of government-equivalent utility, a piggy-bank there for the picking? Same mentality as the states that have tried to seize the funds in guaranty associations – funds that the industry is required by law to maintain for the safety of the policyholders.
I believe the mere fact all these states are introducing such legislation and now that there is a bill in the US House along with Trump comments telling insurance to pay is already going to create problems even if eventually shot down by the courts. Who would have thought anyone much less our leaders would think this is a good idea.
Meanwhile, tornadoes ravage states, people crash vehicles, buildings are burning, injured people are taken care of, life insurance protects families, babies are delivered and CoVID-19 treatment is provided – jeez we are an evil bunch….
Just waiting for the sleazeball lawyers to partner up with shady brokers to go chasing after prospects who feel they are entitled to a BI claim, esp where their holding broker has reviewed their policies and said that coverage was questionable at best, or excluded at worst.
What could follow? Clients suing their brokers for E&O for not recommending broader terms, or not willing to pursue a settlement from the property carrier – after all those loss-free years?
I’m not sure why insurance industry people assume that it would be unallowable for the government to interfere with our “private contracts”. Look what has already happened in housing. You can’t evict someone in many states right now, interfering with their private lease. A mortgage company can’t foreclose, interfering with their private loan. Contracts don’t mean anything to legislators trying to get reelected. Insurance companies are a very on-trend target anyway. It’s easy to demonize the evil out of state insurance company making billions on the backs of the innocent citizens of your state and your favorite little family owned coffee shop.
There is a difference in temporarily suspending provisions of a private contract and permanently altering the contract.
I do agree there are legislators who are either too ignorant or willfully ignore contract law to appropriately act. We are in an era of greater populous governance. The mob has even greater influence in the courts and legislature now then over the last several decades.Greed and Envy are powerful tools for politicians.
I’ve commented on other similar articles but, seriously…slope, meet slippery.
Comments I passed on to my clients who asked my opinion:
unbiased opinion:
1)The industry would go belly-up if they covered all business interruption claims
2)if forced to pay the carrier’s would never know if their exclusions would ever apply
3)impossible to price had it been covered &
4)exclusions have been applicable since SARS & Ebola … just my 2 cents.. stay safe…
It is a challenge when legislation can over ride exclusions after an event has occurred. The process places much more uncertainty for capital invested in insurance. In a sense, the government can take money directly from designated sources to pay for anything.
Leaders in the insurance industry are doing a good job of beating back these efforts. There are already those in Congress who understand why these bills are unworkable and are working on a solution where the Feds are a backstop. The issue which will get politicians attention is that if any of these bills are passed, the industry will fight them to the Supreme Court, which will take years, and many small business owners will be long out of business before the issues are resolved. I fully believe things will turn to a workable, much quicker solution. It’s OK to call me naive and stupid, but that is what I think will happen.
Congress lives in a world of delusion. They are unable or unwilling to recognize that unlike insurance industry capital surplus, a pandemic is not finite having no limit either for for time or quantum. Evan Greenberg stated the case perfectly.
Our current environment contains the social pressure term of “science-denier” used to direct outcomes. The Assemblyman wants to use ‘unconscionable’ to generate the same social pressure. In doing so, he and others of his mindset, regarding pandemic coverage, are denying math.
Plus, if this issue, present since at least 2006, is so ‘unconscionable’, a legislative solution could have been provided in that 14 year period. Pandemics are not new. I would prefer a state/federal pandemic insurance group. I would find a state/federal reinsurance solution to be a nightmare for insurance carriers.
Idly thinking: Aren’t insurance companies also businesses, and aren’t they also experiencing the impacts and consequences of COVID-19, including shut-downs that affect their ability to write new business? Why is it that every time there is some sort of wide-spread financial-type of crisis, people (i.e., legislators) act as if the insurance industry is some sort of government-equivalent utility, a piggy-bank there for the picking? Same mentality as the states that have tried to seize the funds in guaranty associations – funds that the industry is required by law to maintain for the safety of the policyholders.