Member interview: Scott Feltham on insurance considerations for COVID-19

Published on Mon, 16/03/2020 - 12:32
Scott Feltham, Group Insurance Manager at Compass Group
Scott Feltham, Group Insurance Manager at Compass Group

The insurance options concerning epidemics or a pandemic are likely to be hot topics once COVID-19 has been brought under control and insurance managers re-assess the suitability of their cover. For now, however, risk and insurance professionals need to consider which, if any, of their policies may be activated in the current state-of-play or become active further down the line.

Airmic News asked Scott Feltham, Group Insurance Manager at Compass Group, to share his perspective on what steps insurance managers should be taking today, and what changes brokers and insurers should be looking to make post COVID-19.

“COVID-19 may be having a serious impact on an organisation’s ability to operate and generate revenue. As soon as this becomes apparent, it is incumbent on the organisation’s insurance / risk management team to assess the position regarding any available insurance coverage and begin managing the expectations of key stakeholders regarding the same.

If, as many large corporates are experiencing in relation to COVID-19, there is very little to no possibility of calling on their business interruption insurance where there is an absence of physical loss or damage to the organisation’s assets, it is imperative that all communications regarding the same are clear and concise – this way, the organisation, business units, etc. will have clarity on where they stand early on into the pandemic and can begin taking measures to stem any impact whilst fully in the knowledge of the position from an insurance standpoint.

When reviewing the coverage position, policyholders should engage with their brokers and insurers to establish absolute clarity over how their insurances might respond to matters in relation to a pandemic that is similar in nature to COVID-19. As a collective, they should work through any ambiguity that might arise in order that the insurance risk / management team can accurately convey the position to the organisation’s stakeholders.

Otherwise, more generally, insurance and risk managers should be assessing the everchanging risk landscape that their organisations face to determine what key risks could have an impact on business continuity and their ability to generate revenue.

They should lean on their brokers for support in modelling the impact of certain key risks and, depending on the output, should work with their broker to consider what risks transfer solutions may be available. In addition, insurers need to refocus their attention on the changing risk landscape and make sure that products they are offering are properly fit-for-purpose and add value to buyers of insurance in this day and age.”

Scott Feltham featured in the first episode of Airmic Talks, the new fortnightly Airmic podcast, addressing the hardening insurance market. You can listen and subscribe to the podcast on SoundCloud, iTunes, Spotify or any other podcast platform.