Staff Resources Dashboard

Daily COVID-19 Updates

(2020-12-31)

Westfield

The Governor of Pennsylvania has mandated that all restaurants be limited to delivery or take out through at least January 4.

We have had inquiries from some of our PA restaurant clients asking what effect ignoring that mandate and staying open would have on their insurance coverages, so we reached out to some of the carriers involved. Below is their UNOFFICIAL response:

“We do not have a published position on the issue.”

2020-12-22

The Governor of Pennsylvania has mandated that all restaurants be limited to delivery or take out through at least January 4.

(This page will be updated as additional carriers respond.)

Acuity

"Per your question below, Acuity does not have any formal position on this subject, but in my opinion, there would still be coverage in place as there is no exclusion or any other item that would ultimately preclude us from covering our insured."

Mutual Benefit

"We do not have a written position that we can share. However, our VP of Claims reviewed our policies and could find no exclusion for coverage."

Eastern Alliance

"Yes the governor’s orders don’t say anything about changing the WC act and what is compensable. And yes, we will continue to investigate each claim case by case."

Lackawanna

"We do not have any written position on this matter.

However, given the scenario, here is how Lackawanna would handle the situation:

An employee, who may be injured, or test positive for COVID, while working for an employer that chose to remain open despite the Governor’s orders, should submit a workers’ compensation claim.

The claim will be investigated and managed according to Lackawanna’s claims management policies and procedures.

If it is determined that the injury or illness was sustained during the course and scope of the employee’s duties, Lackawanna will cover the claim."

Philadelphia Insurance

"Our policies are all ISO based and therefore, if coverage applies due to the cause of loss at time of claim, then It would not defer coverage due to the Covid restrictions the governor has put in place."

Travelers

"No written position to share"

Tuscarora Wayne

"While we don’t have a formal written stance on this topic, I can offer that in our opinion, there is nothing in our policy verbiage that would preclude coverage from applying should a business remain open during a government mandated closure. While there are exclusions in policies around “intentional acts” and the like, we do not view a business choosing to remain open as an activity which would trigger such an exclusion. As a company, we would not be in favor of denying an otherwise covered claim, or providing defense coverage where the coverage contract obligates us to."

Zenith

"While Zenith does not have anything in writing that addresses your question, you know us as a company that prides itself on the doing right thing. With that in mind, I am told there would be coverage as long as the employer is maintaining safety rules and practices in the workplace."

ENCOVA

New: communicable disease exclusions

In 2020, the property and casualty insurance industry had to address questions regarding how certain coverages respond in the face of a global pandemic. This generated a market response to provide clarity and transparency of specific policy language around pandemic exposures. These exposures are considered uninsurable due to the devastating, worldwide impact of such catastrophic events.

The reinsurance market is adding language to primary carrier treaties in 2021 that clarifies that these exposures are not insurable. Encova Insurance, along with other carriers, is following this model and providing similar clarification for your policyholders.

Contagious disease, virus and bacteria exclusions
Encova’s commercial property and businessowners policies include a property endorsement: exclusion of loss due to virus or bacteria. A contagious disease exclusion will also be attached to all liability policies, and a virus and bacteria exclusion will be attached to inland marine policies. You will see these endorsements added to future new and renewal business. Note: These exclusions do not apply to workers’ compensation.

The endorsements exclude losses caused by communicable contagious diseases, viruses, bacteria and microorganisms. These endorsements will clarify for policyholders that these exposures are not covered.

Preview a sample endorsement.*

Please contact your agency manager with any questions.

*Language may vary slightly by state.

(All Daily Updates are archived, by carrier and in reverse chronological order, on the

P&C Carrier Responses to COVID-19 page)

2020-10-06

AmTrust

California SB-1159 – New Mandatory
Reporting Guidelines for COVID-19 Claims

On September 17, 2020, California enacted SB-1159 which imposes certain reporting requirements on employers. Effective immediately, employers are required to report positive COVID-19 tests to their workers’ compensation claim administrator, regardless of whether there is an allegation the COVID-19 exposure is related to work or not.

SB-1159 defines two separate periods of requirements for claims involving employees with COVID-19. The first period of March 19 through July 5 applies to claims that fall within the Governor’s original Executive Order. The second period applies reporting of employees who test positive with COVID-19 from July 6, 2020 through December 31, 2022.

The new reporting requirements will be used to identify and establish claims that have been reported under an ‘outbreak’ presumption.

EMPLOYER REPORTING FORM

An ‘outbreak’ exists when employees test positive for COVID-19 at a specific place of employment within 14 calendar days under the below circumstances:

Date of injury is on or after July 6, 2020
Employer has minimum of 5 employees
Employer has 100 or less employees: 4 employees test positive
Employer has 100 or more employees: 4 percent of the employees who report to a specific place of employment test positive
A specific place of employment is ordered to close by a local public health department, the State Department of Public Health, OSHA, or a school superintendent due to a risk of infection with COVID-19

COMPENSABILITY AND PRESUMPTION APPLICATION
For claims involving health care workers, peace officers, firefighters and other frontline workers, the presumption of compensability applies in most cases with a positive COVID-19 test with a 30 day investigation period.

For all other employers with 5 or more employees, the ‘outbreak’ presumption applies only when an employee tests positive during an outbreak. There is no presumption when there are less than 5 employees. SB-1159 allows for a 45-day investigation period for "all other employees" and provides for specific claim handling guidelines and transfer of information from the employer to the claims administrator.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS: POSITIVE TESTS JULY 6 FORWARD
SB-1159 provides that once an employer knows, or should have reasonably known, that an employee has tested positive for COVID-19, the employer must report a claim to their claim administrator within 3 business days, except as outlined below. This requirement pertains to both work and non-work related COVID-19 diagnoses.

Positive test occurred July 6 through September 16
Any employer who is aware of an employee testing positive shall report to their claims administrator, within 30 business days of the effective date of this section

No Personal Identifying Information will be provided unless the employee:

Asserts the virus is work-related
Has filed a claim form pursuant to Labor Code Section 5401

An Employer Reporting Form for Outbreak Determination should be used for reporting all COVID-19 related claims. When an employee has tested positive for COVID-19, the following information is required when reporting to the claims administrator.

Date the employee tests positive and date the specimen was collected for testing
Address(es) of the employee's specific place(s) of employment during the 14-day period preceding the date of the employee’s positive test
Highest number of employees who reported to work at the employee’s specific place of employment in the 45-day period preceding the last day the employee worked at each specific place of employment
For positive test dates July 6 to September 16: The employer is to report the highest number of employees who reported to work at each of the employee’s specific places of employment on any given workday July 6 through September 16

The legislation also provides that an employer who intentionally submits false or misleading information or fails to submit information when reporting could be subject to a civil penalty in the amount of up to $10,000 to be assessed by the Labor Commissioner.

Chubb

EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITY TO REPORT COVID-19
OUTBREAKS TO CHUBB UNDER CALIFORNIA SB 1159

NOTICE for Chubb Insureds whose Workers’ Compensation claims are handled by Chubb Adjusters (Chubb is hereinafter referred to as “Claims Administrator” and/or “Chubb”).

Chubb Insureds for whom Workers’ Compensation claims are handled by a Third-Party Administrator (“TPA”) should contact the TPA directly for reporting instructions.

If you are a Chubb agent or broker, we recommend you communicate this information to your client(s) to make them aware of their responsibilities as an employer to report Covid-19 outbreaks under California SB 1159.

The material presented herein is not intended to provide legal or other expert advice, but rather is presented for general information only and to assist you in your review of your obligations under the law which relate to third party administrators. You should consult knowledgeable legal counsel or other knowledgeable experts as to any legal or technical questions you may have to determine your full obligations to comply with the law.

California SB 1159 was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 17, 2019 and took effect immediately. This bill codified Executive Order N-62-20 and created a new set of guidelines and presumption for Covid-19 related claims for dates of injury after July 6, 2020.

For the purposes of codification, SB1159 now takes its place as Labor Code §3212.86 et seq., Labor Code §3212.87 et seq. and Labor Code §3212.88 et seq.

Labor Code §3212.86 et seq. sets forth the rebuttable presumption requirements and §3212.87 et seq. focuses on the applicability of a presumption of compensability applying to Covid-19 cases involving frontline workers including but not limited to firefighters, peace officers, hospital employees and individuals at health facilities including nurses, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, direct patient care agencies, etc.

Labor Code §3212.88 et seq. applies to non-frontline employees not covered under Labor Code §3212.87.

For the purposes of this memorandum, focus is being placed on the employer’s responsibilities relative to reporting Covid-19 (outbreaks) to Claims Administrators. This memorandum does not purport to provide an in-depth analysis of all the provisions set forth in Labor Code §3212.86, §3212.87 and §3212.88.

The new legislation establishes a presumption that under certain circumstances, a diagnosis of Covid-19 is a compensable condition under the California Workers’ Compensation statutes if it can be traced to a Covid-19 “outbreak”, which has occurred at a specific place of employment. Among various stringent requirements, the law now requires employers to report Covid-19 “outbreaks” that occur at the specific place of employment to their Claims Administrators and to report specific instances of a diagnosis of Covid-19. A worksite outbreak exists if, within fourteen (14) calendar days, one of the following occurs at a specific place of employment:

At companies with more than 100 employees, at least 4% of the employees have tested positive for Covid-19; or
At companies with 100 or fewer employees, at least four (4) employees have tested positive for Covid-19.

Reporting Requirements
Employers are now required to report the following information listed below to their Claims Administrators. It should be noted that if an employer or other person acting on the employer’s behalf intentionally submits false or misleading information or fails to submit information when reporting, they may be subject to a civil penalty in the amount of up to $10,000.00 to be assessed by the Labor Commissioner.

1. Employees diagnosed from July 6, 2020 through September 17, 2020:
Any employer who is aware of an employee testing positive for Covid-19 on or after July 6, 2020 and prior to September 17, 2020 shall report to their Claims Administrator, in writing via electronic mail or facsimile, within thirty (30) business days from September 17, 2020, the following information:
(1) An employee has tested positive. For purposes of this reporting, the employer shall not provide any personally identifiable information regarding the employee who tested positive for Covid-19 unless the employee asserts the infection is work related or has filed a claim form pursuant to Section 5401. (Note: Although not specified within the new legislation, it is critically important to maintain confidentiality of the identity of individuals who are not asserting Covid-19 as work related. Although there is an affirmative obligation to notify the Claims Administrator of a positive test result, protection of patients’ identities remains critically important).

(2) The date employee tests positive, which is the date the specimen was collected for testing.

(3) The specific address or addresses of the employee’s specific place of employment during the fourteen (14) days preceding the date of the employee’s positive test.

(4) And, the highest number of employees who reported to work at the employee’s specific place of employment in the forty-five (45) days preceding the last day the employee worked at each specific place of employment.

2. Employees diagnosed from September 18, 2020 through December 31, 2022:
When an employer knows or reasonably should know that an employee has tested positive for Covid-19 during the above time period, the employer shall report to their Claims Administrator in writing via electronic mail or facsimile, within three (3) business days of such knowledge, the following information:

(1) An employee has tested positive. For purposes of this reporting, the employer shall not provide any personally identifiable information regarding the employee who tested positive for Covid-19 unless the employee asserts the infection is work related or has filed a claim form pursuant to Section 5401. (Note: Although not specified within the new legislation, it is critically important to maintain confidentiality of the identity of individuals who are not asserting Covid-19 as work related. Although there is an affirmative obligation to notify the Claims Administrator of a positive test result, protection of patients’ identities remains critically important).

(2) The date employee tests positive, which is the date the specimen was collected for testing.

(3) The specific address or addresses of the employee’s specific place of employment during the fourteen (14) days preceding the date of the employee’s positive test.

To enable our clients to satisfy these reporting requirements, Chubb has created the Employer COVID-19 Reporting Form. The form must be completed for each positive Covid-19 test and emailed to customer_reporting_for_ca_wc_presumption_law@chubb.com . Chubb will refer to this information when adjusting workers’ compensation claims in order to establish whether an outbreak has occurred and if a Covid-19 presumption is applicable for occupational (work-related) claims as defined by SB 1159.

Employer COVID-19 Reporting Form

To reiterate, ALL positive test results for Covid-19 that have occurred since July 6, 2020, regardless of whether they are determined to be occupational or non-occupational, must be reported using the above form.

In addition, please note that the reporting of positive test results through this new California reporting procedure is not a substitute for the existing workers’ compensation claims reporting protocol. To report a workers’ compensation claim, you must continue to follow your normal claim reporting processes in addition to complying with these new reporting requirements.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Chubb at customer_reporting_for_ca_wc_presumption_law@chubb.com.

Zenith

Dear Valued Agent,

Recently, New Jersey Senate Bill 2380 was passed by the New Jersey legislature and signed into law by Governor Phil Murphy. It provides certain classes of workers with a presumption that if they contract COVID-19, it is a compensable workers' compensation claim.

We want to provide you guidance and resources to prepare for the new changes impacting your clients' workers' compensation programs and COVID-19 claims:

Our experts have analyzed the new law, and we have a number of recommendations to keep employees safe while mitigating business exposure to COVID-19 claims. View the analysis and recommendations.
We have also created a checklist that we hope will help your clients navigate through these changes. View the employer checklist.

Please reach out to me using my contact information below if you have questions.

Sincerely,

Mike Cunningham
EVP/Chief Claims Officer
818-665-9127
mcunningham@thezenith.com

2020-10-01

Church Mutual

2020-08-02

Hartford

COVID-19: Change to Waiver of Vacancy Provisions for Commercial Lines Policyholders

As states across the country have begun their phased reopening efforts, The Hartford has continued to adjust our stance on various policyholder accommodations.

The Hartford's commercial property insurance policies generally include provisions that remove or reduce certain coverages if a property has been vacant for more than 60 consecutive days prior to the loss. On April 17, 2020, we notified our producers that we were suspending enforcement of our vacancy conditions for buildings that were not vacant before a state closure order was issued, and we would provide at least 14 days’ notice of a change to that accommodation.

Beginning on September 1, 2020, we will resume applying vacancy conditions in our commercial property policies. Vacancy conditions will apply if a building (or the area rented by a tenant) remains vacant, as defined in the policy, for more than 60 consecutive days beginning on or after September 1, 2020.

We’ve developed a variety of resources to assist businesses when they are closed and as they begin to reopen. Feel free to share these tools with your clients:

• Reopening Idle Facilities and Restarting Operations
• Reopening Checklist
• Cleaning and Disinfecting Facilities
• Tips to Keep Drivers Safe as States Reopen
• Reopening Resources by Industry
• Protecting Your Business During a State-Mandated Lockdown
• Protecting Idle Construction Sites

Thank you for continuing to trust The Hartford.

NOTE TO AGENT: If you have notified any customers of The Hartford’s Limited Vacancy Waiver initially communicated in April 2020, please notify these same policyholders of this communication regarding the end of this temporary accommodation.

Philadelphia

As most of you know, many states have lifted their non-pay cancellation moratoriums due to COVID-19. As a follow up to prior communications, we are notifying you that a large number of non-pay cancellations will be sent on Agency Bill past due policies, beginning next week. This will be in accordance with all state mandates and we will continue to honor those moratoriums that are ongoing.

Due to the large amount of premium owed and accumulated past due balances, we need to take immediate and proper action to initiate non-pay cancellations on these policies. We are aware that by doing this, it is possible that payments and cancellation notices may cross in transit. In preparation for such occurrences, we have supplied additional staff with the tools needed to ensure funds are properly allocated and quickly initiate reinstatements upon receipt of your payment.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your local marketing rep or contact customer service via online chat at PHLY.com or call at 877.438.7459.

Zenith

These have certainly been unprecedented times, and we wish to thank you for your partnership. Together, we have worked to assist our mutual customers by providing the tools, resources and support needed to help them navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on their business. Times like this clearly underscore the value of the independent insurance agent.

Since March and in response to state restrictions, we temporarily suspended issuing direct notices of cancellation for non-payment of premium for all policyholders. As these restrictions are being lifted, we will again be issuing non-payment of premium notifications and canceling policies as a result of non-payment of premium subject to normal state guidelines and requirements. Like you, we know policyholders have been impacted significantly as a result of COVID-19, and we remain committed to partnering with you to notify policyholders in advance in an effort to help them preserve their coverage. We also want to remind you of the tools we’ve made available to ensure the premium due is aligned with their operation.

Next Steps

In an effort to assist you in identifying customers affected by this change, we are providing you with a list of your agency’s customers scheduled to receive a NOC beginning 10 days from today. This list is applicable only to policyholders with a balance greater than 30 days past due. Your list of accounts is attached and is current as of Tuesday, July 7. Our intent in providing this list in advance is to allow you time to discuss with the customer and secure payment in advance of the notice of cancellation being sent. It’s important to note that a notice of cancellation will be sent on additional accounts as they become past due.

As we have communicated previously, we have reached out to policyholders with overdue balances throughout this pandemic, often more than once. In many cases, we have done this with additional support from our agents. If you see an account on this list and you know payment has been made or that a plan is in place to bring them current, no further action is required on your part. For all other policyholders, we would appreciate your assistance in obtaining the payment due so their insurance remains in force.

Policyholder Assistance

Our payroll impact tool allows most small business policyholders impacted by COVID-19 to self- report payroll adjustments for the March 2020 – August 2020 time period. Utilizing this tool, which is optional, ensures the payroll we are using to calculate their premium directly aligns with their actual payroll. The tool can be accessed through the following link:

w w w . T h e Ze n i t h . c o m/ C O VI D p a yr o l l i mp a c t

We encourage you to discuss this tool with your eligible small business policyholders, who are identified on your list. Updates made through this tool will immediately be reflected on their next billing statement for most policyholders. In some cases, due to the timing of their billing, it might be reflected at final audit.

For accounts other than small business, we encourage you to contact our Premium Account Specialists by calling 800-440-5020 and selecting option #4 or your Zenith Underwriter. They stand ready and prepared to discuss account-specific questions or issues you might have.

At Zenith, our goal has always been to form a long-term relationship with our policyholders and to be there when they need us. Thank you for your continued partnership and in advance for your assistance with these efforts.

If you have any billing related questions, please contact our Premium Account Specialists by calling us at 800-440-5020 and choosing option #4. For any payroll related questions, please contact your Underwriter. Most importantly, stay safe.

2020-07-15

Berkshire Hathaway Guard

Information for Delaware Policyholders with Past-Due Payments Relative to COVID-19

In an effort to provide additional relief to Delaware policyholders who may be suffering financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we will be implementing measures in line with Governor John Carney's State of Emergency Declaration relative to past-due payments. Specifically, a special notice is being sent to Delaware policyholders with past-due payments for the period March 25, 2020 through July 1, 2020. Click below for more information: Learn more...

Frankenmuth

Frankenmuth Insurance Adds Communicable Disease Exclusion to Commercial Liability Policies

As we navigate the complex COVID-19 pandemic and our industry’s response, Frankenmuth Insurance is adding a communicable disease exclusion endorsement to commercial liability policies. The endorsement will exclude coverage for liability due to the actual or alleged transmission of communicable diseases.

The communicable disease exclusion endorsement for new and renewal commercial umbrella liability policies will go into effect October 1, 2020.

The communicable disease exclusion language will be added to other liability policies – general liability, businessowners liability, and the general liability portion of auto dealers – effective January 1, 2021.

A letter informing existing policyholders of this change will be sent to comply with state statute or as a courtesy. A copy of this letter will be in PolicyCenter or FormMaker for your agency.

If you have questions about the endorsement, please contact your field manager or underwriter.

2020-07-15

Frankenmuth

Premium Audit Furlough Payroll Update

As we consider potential impacts to commercial policyholders relating to COVID-19, Frankenmuth Insurance continues to exclude furlough payroll from premium calculations on any General Liability or Workers’ Compensation audit.

Our Premium Audit team is providing a clarification that furlough pay may be reviewed for employees working a portion of their regular workweek. This may allow an exclusion for this furlough pay in premium calculations.

Our auditors will need to review detailed payroll records to determine what is “regular” as each situation may be unique.

Premium Audit Payroll Record Keeping Tips During COVID-19

Keep clear records of furlough payroll, separate from regular payroll records. Percentages of the total payroll will not be accepted.
For Workers’ Compensation policies, furlough payroll will be recorded under Classification 0012 – Paid Furloughed Workers During A Governmental Emergency Order Impacting Employment.
For employees working in an alternate capacity, including those who work a partial work week(s), reduced hours, a modified schedule or modified job duties, their payroll for that time period will be classified based on the work they are performing, provided detailed payroll records are kept.
To maintain detailed payroll records, use unique categories to document pay while not working due to COVID-19 or for changes in employee duties.

Please share this information with your customers so they may update their payroll records accordingly prior to an audit.

We are here to support your agency and our mutual customers during this challenging time. For questions regarding the clarification above or other commercial premium audit accommodations, please contact our Premium Audit Team at claudit@fmins.com or (800) 234-1133 ext. 4013.

Penn National

Executive video update: Response during COVID-19 pandemic and future plans

This video message provides an update on our uninterrupted service and performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chris Sears, CEO; Bob Brandon, president; and Andrew Potalivo, VP -- Field Operations, share news including our outlook for returning to our offices and insights into our performance and corporate plans. Thank you for your partnership with us as we help people feel secure and make life better when bad things happen.

2020-07-01

Redwoods

Upcoming Changes to Redwoods’ Coverage and Waiver Policy

The effects of COVID-19 are deeply felt across the entire economy, as you know all too well. We’ve worked to return premiums, extend renewals, and offer new guidance, in support of our shared customers' programs and mission. And you can rely on us to continue that support and communicate what we are doing.

As we announced in a webinar on May 21, we are changing our coverages to create greater standardization within our parent company and our industry. As part of this effort, we will begin incentivizing the use of comprehensive waivers as a strategy to both communicate risk to stakeholders and better protect your organization in the event of a lawsuit.

We will be making the following changes:

Excess Policies
For Excess policies effective 7/1/2020, and after, at time of renewal, we will:

Add a Communicable Disease Exclusion

Property Policies
All Property policies currently include a Virus and Bacteria Exclusion. For Property policies effective 7/1/2020, and after, at time of renewal, we will:

Remove our proprietary Food Contamination and Communicable Disease Endorsement
Add an ISO Food Contamination Endorsement

General Liability Policies
For General Liability policies effective 8/1/2020, and after, at time of renewal, we will:

Add a Communicable Disease Exclusion

We will make communicable disease coverage available, by removing the exclusion, for any customer that:

Implements a comprehensive system of waivers for all members, guests and volunteers.
Has the waiver approved by The Redwoods Group, through a submission from their broker, or has the waiver approved in writing by their own legal counsel and shares that with The Redwoods Group.
Posts clear signage throughout the facility to communicate the shared risk that members of the public are taking on by participating in programming. (The insured may use Redwoods signage.)
Engages closely with Redwoods during each stage of reopening their facility.

Your Action Requested: In order to have this exclusion removed for your insured(s), please complete this short survey including details and—where appropriate—examples of their waiver practices. (If you have multiple insureds with Redwoods, please complete one survey for each Redwoods customer you serve.)

Not only will the use of such waivers help to communicate the risk of COVID-19 to members and guests, but they will also more broadly help stakeholders to understand the risks that they are agreeing to assume when participating in your insured's programming.
Waivers are not a fix-all solution to liability or risk, but they are a very important and very useful risk management tool and can be very impactful in the defense of a claim. The world has changed, and we need to change along with it. Waivers are already an industry standard practice for many and, with the changes wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, we fully expect waivers to become a regular risk management practice for a much broader range of industries. We want to make sure that our customers are using waivers responsibly and effectively to help share the responsibility for managing and mitigating risk.

Thank you for all you do in service of our shared customers. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions.

Complete Survey

2020-06-29

Encova

Temporary hired non-owned auto coverage for restaurant owners affected by COVID-19 ceases June 30

In April, Encova Insurance announced an insurance solution for our insureds who were no longer allowed to offer on-premises dining in their restaurants to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

We provided hired non-owned auto coverage at no charge and on a temporary basis to insured restaurants that needed to offer food delivery services but had existing gaps in their commercial auto coverage. Temporary coverage was provided for the period in which the insured restaurant was subject to the government mandate to cease on-premises dining operations, or until June 30, 2020, whichever came first.

As a reminder, as of June 30, all temporary hired non-owned auto coverage will cease. If your insured’s restaurant still has a need for hired non-owned auto coverage past this date and does not already have permanent coverage on the policy, contact your commercial lines underwriter to discuss coverage options.

2020-06-22

Guard

Premium Refunds for Select NJ Policyholders Due to COVID-19

In an effort to provide additonal relief, we will be implementing measures in line with the State of New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance's May 12, 2020, Bulletin No. 20-22. Specifically, policyholder notices are being sent to select New Jersey insureds announcing premium refunds/credits for the period March 22, 2020 through May 22, 2020.

Learn more...

2020-06-19

Donegal

Wages Paid to Employees Not Working While Business Operations Are Suspended During COVID-19

Donegal Insurance Group will be observing rule changes approved by each state for handling wages paid to furloughed employees due to COVID-19. We will be following the specific rule modifications for each particular state, which has announced an approval.

This notice is not specific to any particular state and we ask that you research your state’s Insurance Department approval for individual filings.

As a general rule, wages paid to employees who have been furloughed during the period of time in which a state-wide emergency order has been issued shall be reported separately at audit. Those wages for furloughed employees will have no premium calculations under any contractor’s policy, general liability policy or worker’s compensation policy. The worker’s compensation policy will specifically use a newly developed unit statistical code for Paid Furloughed Workers During a Government Emergency Order with a $0 rate.

Please note:

Furloughed employees are employees who were paid and not working. If an employee is not deemed furloughed, the payroll will be assigned to the classification applicable to the work usually performed; this includes partial furlough days. For employees being paid to work with altered duties, state rulings will be followed if a lessor classification is allowable. Approval start and end dates in each state will be followed and policyholders must maintain separate, accurate and verifiable records for furloughed employees.

Payroll records must clearly reflect the division of payroll between pre- and post emergency declaration. If accurate and verifiable payroll records have not been maintained, 100 percent of the employee’s wages are assigned to the employee’s regular classification. Estimated or percentage allocations are not permitted.

For a printable version of this announcement, click here.

2020-06-18

AmTrust

AmTrust is here to help small businesses with expert advice, recommendations, safety tips and more

Download AmTrust’s Guide to Getting Back to Business today. We share best practices to keep your employees, customers and business safe while reopening.

Get The Guide

Small business owners want to keep their employees and customers safe and healthy as the country reopens. These videos have reopening tips for some of our top industry classes, so share this email with your insureds today!

Restaurants
As restaurants reopen, they will need to abide by specific guidelines as customers return for their favorite dishes.

Retail
Reducing risks to employees and customers is critical for retailers as they begin to reopen.

Offices
Create new policies to keep employee health and safety top of mind as they get ready to return to the office.

Learn more about AmTrust's efforts to help our agents and insureds. Here to Help

Travelers

The Workplace – Post COVID-19 EXCLUSIVE WHITEPAPER

The question on many employers’ and employees’ minds these days is “what will life be like when we return to work?” While we don’t yet have all the answers, Travelers Chief Medical Director, Dr. Marcos Iglesias, offers some observations about how the global pandemic will impact our physical, mental and social wellbeing as well as changes in the workplace.

Prepare your clients for the next challenge in this ever-evolving environment. Use our whitepaper to share valuable insights that can safeguard their success.

Download Whitepaper

COVID-19 Billing Relief Update

To help ease any financial burden due to COVID-19, we offered all customers billing relief through June 15, 2020. During that time, cancelation and nonrenewal of coverage due to nonpayment were suspended and no interest, late fees or penalties were charged. Today, we will return to our normal billing processes for most customers and issue non-pay cancelation notices when future premiums are not paid.

Additional Support

In most states for Personal Insurance customers with more than $100 of unpaid premium, we are suspending their bills from June 16 to July 13, 2020. In July, we will send these customers a separate bill for their deferred payments along with their normal bill. Customers will have 12 months to pay the amount of the separate bill for the unpaid premium due to billing relief.

LEARN MORE

2020-06-10

Frankenmuth

Furlough Payroll: State Rules for Insurance Premium Calculations

In early May, Frankenmuth Insurance issued a notice that we will not charge premium for furlough payroll on any General Liability or Workers’ Compensation audit while employees are not performing work for the business and are not present on the business premises, effective March 1, 2020.

To comply with state rules for insurance premium calculations, employees must not be working in any capacity, no matter how many hours or function, in order to be considered for furlough pay.

For example, employees who normally worked five days per week before the COVID-19 pandemic begin to work three days per week. The employer pays the employees for five days per week. The two non-worked days per week cannot be considered furlough pay for insurance premium calculations.

If the employees were furloughed due to COVID-19 for several full weeks, the furlough pay for the weeks not working (and not using vacation time/PTO) is the only pay considered furlough pay.

While this information differs from Department of Labor standards, it is the correct application for insurance premium calculations and abides by the exceptions made to the states’ manual rules.

We are here to provide information and support commercial premium audit accommodations during these challenging times. If you have questions regarding premium audit, please contact our Premium Audit Team at claudit@fmins.com or (800) 234-1133 ext. 4013.

ICW Group

Later today we'll be sending our policyholders in California the following information regarding their premiums:

Dear Valued Policyholder,

We hope you are doing well and staying safe.

In response to COVID-19, we want to make sure you’re fully aware of the process for making payroll changes so your policy accurately reflects your current premium.

If you are on a stipulated pay plan, please notify your agent if you believe your payroll estimates need to be adjusted due to COVID-19.
If you are on Payroll Reporting (i.e. via our PayPro system), please be sure to accurately report your monthly payroll figures so the premium being calculated will correctly reflect your current operations.
It’s important that any changes in your payroll due to COVID-19 are documented fully in your records.

Taking these steps will ensure your premium payments accurately reflect the changes in your payroll. If you have any questions regarding the above information, please contact your agent or email us at paypro@icwgroup.com.

West Bend

Illinois civil unrest disaster proclamation

Due to recent civil unrest, the governor of Illinois has issued a disaster proclamation for a number of counties. In response to this proclamation, the Illinois Insurance Department issued Company Bulletin 2020-15 from its Commissioner, requesting insurers to implement these protective measures:

Categorization of the vandalism and looting as a catastrophic event and implementing expedited claims handling, advance claim payments, and “fair treatment of all policyholders, regardless of size”
Voluntary implementation of a moratorium on the cancellation or non-renewal of impacted policyholders for a period of 60 days from June 8, 2020
Paying insurance benefits for riot/civil commotion-related claims for those commercial policyholders who were unable to make full premium payments during the period following the governor’s March 20 executive order related to the COVID-19 pandemic
Adjusting business interruption claims such that the operational impact of COVID-19 is not considered in the adjustment process when considering the expected level of a policyholder’s business activity

This civil unrest disaster affects these counties:

Cook, Champaign, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, Macon, Madison, Peoria, Rock Island, Sangamon, Stephenson, Will, and Williamson

The moratorium period began June 8, 2020 and ends August 7, 2020.

West Bend will work with any policyholders who may have trouble paying their premiums on time as a direct result of this disaster. Please be our ambassador to these policyholders by reassuring them that we understand this grave situation and will do our utmost to be flexible during this difficult time.

2020-06-08

Liberty Mutual

COVID-19 Update & Resources

See all updates

This week's highlights

Billing hold ends on June 15 - get details now

COVID-19 updated FAQs and tips for businesses

Business Lines virtual prospecting – new classes added to help you grow business from your desk

Visit the dedicated COVID-19 page for additional updates and resources.

Safeco

COVID-19 Update & Resources

See all updates

This week's highlights

Billing hold ends on June 15 - get details now

Personal Auto Customer Relief Refund status update

Apply for a chance to win $10,000 for a local nonprofit

Business Lines virtual prospecting – new classes added to help you grow business from your desk

Visit the dedicated COVID-19 page for additional updates and resources.

2020-06-04

Penn National

Personal Auto policyholders receive a 15% premium credit
We recently announced that a credit of 15% will be applied to two months of premiums for those policies in force as of April 30 in recognition of the temporary reduction in vehicle miles driven. We are calling this credit our Feel Secure Auto credit. Premium returned benefits our 165,000 Personal Auto customers. The returned premiums will not impact agency commissions.

We began applying this credit to the policyholder’s next premium balance or refunded if premium was paid in full in May.

The endorsement can be found under the Transaction History tab within Policies and Accounts. The transaction only states endorsement, it does not make mention to the Feel Secure credit.

Communication to policyholders
To share this good news with policyholders, we have completed the following:

Over 17,000 Personal Lines policyholders, who have registered an account on the Online Insurance Center, were sent an email communication. Click on the social media icons to share it on your social media accounts or link the news from your website.
We posted the information on our social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. We'd love for you to share our post with your followers.
We sent a press release to over 1,000 media outlets in our territory.
We developed a flyer that you can share with your clients insured by Penn National Insurance.
We inserted the flyer in the checks that went out to customers who had paid in full.
A credit message is shown on the invoice.

Helping support our policyholders
In addition to providing this premium credits to policyholders, we continue to support all our customers and the greater community in a number of ways.

Flexible billing – We have provided extended grace periods in accordance with state-specific directives. We continue to waive late fees and reinstatement fees. Our Customer Contact Center representatives also have the authority help policyholders with more flexible payment options.
Uninterrupted customer support – Thanks to our technology and business continuity preparations, we continue to be available during normal business hours. Also, our customers can report claims 24/7.

We hope that this email finds you, your co-workers and families safe and healthy. While the uncertainty continues for all of us, one thing is for sure. We are here for you and will continue to keep you informed of new developments.

Philadelphia

Non-payment Cancellation Moratorium Notice

As most of you know, we have been operating under a non-payment cancellation moratorium since the middle of March. While we continue to invoice our policyholders, we have refrained from sending notice of cancellation to anyone unable to pay us during this difficult time.

As a courtesy, we are notifying you that beginning with our June billing cycle, PHLY will be ending its moratorium on non-payment cancellations and returning to regular payment terms. This applies to direct billed as well as agency billed policies. June statements will include all current and past due balances, and payment will be due as indicated on the invoice (generally speaking, this means payment is due within 30 days of invoice for agency bill and 21 days for direct bill).

Please note that some states have extended the moratorium on cancellation, and we will continue to honor those guidelines.

If you are interested in seeing a complete list of past due policies for your agency, you may log into your account at PHLY.com. Once logged in, select “Reports” on the left-hand side of the screen, then select “Delinquency Reports.” From there, select “By Account,” and you will see a complete list of your PHLY policyholders and their amount due.

Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your local marketing rep or contact customer service at 877.438.7459.

2020-06-03

Liberty Mutual

A message from Tracy Ryan

I want to take a moment to acknowledge the unrest that has been unfolding across the U.S. over the past week. At Liberty, we believe progress happens when people feel secure. It’s clear that for many people across the country, a feeling of security is far from a reality – and for good reason. I am personally committed to standing up for racial equality and respect for all, and so is Liberty Mutual. Diversity and inclusion is how we do business, and we will continue to invest in it to create a stronger organization for our employees, our customers, and our partners.

Returning to a new normal
From a COVID perspective, most Liberty employees will continue to work remotely until at least September 1. Teams are working hard on return-to-the-office plans to ensure safety and well-being in the new normal that awaits us. For some employees, whose work includes meeting with customers, prospects, claimants, and brokers, we will begin transitioning in July. Once it’s deemed safe to do so and, with proper personal protective equipment and protocols, some of our claims adjustors, risk engineers, risk control consultants, underwriters, and distribution leaders will be able to attend in-person meetings – when all parties are open to this kind of engagement. If you’re interested in learning about our approach in your region, please contact your regional executive.

An executive perspective on our response to COVID
This week, Liberty posted an interview with Global Risk Solutions (GRS) President Dennis Langwell on our Viewpoint website. Dennis shares his perspective on how Liberty Mutual has responded to COVID, how the virus has impacted the company’s financials, how employees are adapting, and how the pandemic may change the way we work over the long term. I encourage you to take a few minutes to read the piece, and share it with any Liberty insureds who are looking for assurance of our financial strength, the stability of our strategy, and our commitment to being there when we’re needed most.

COVID resource materials shift to reopening operations
We continue to add to our COVID resources on our Viewpoint website, with a new section that focuses on reopening and ramping up operations. All of the content on the site is easily sharable via email and social media, including LinkedIn and Twitter.

Keeping the lines of communication open
Thank you for your ongoing partnership throughout this unprecedented time. I am proud of how our teams have pivoted while continuing to provide outstanding service to our clients. I’d love to hear from you about how you think we’re doing. Please email me with any feedback you’d like to share, or if there is anything else we can be doing to help you and your clients during this time.

MEMIC

COVID-19 Policyholder Resources Update
We hope this email finds you, your families, and friends well and healthy.

MEMIC continues to take steps to support our policyholders who rely on us for workers' compensation coverage through the unprecedented challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Below are the latest updates on billing and payments, payroll classification for furloughed and reassigned employees, and safety resources.

Of course, we are always here to help. Please contact your underwriter anytime or visit the COVID-19 Policyholder Resources page on memic.com for the latest updates and information.

Get the Latest COVID-19 Policyholder Resources Updates

Billing and Payments
MEMIC understands the financial hardships caused by COVID- 19, and our Premium Accounting Department remains ready to help. Please direct policyholders who are unable to pay their workers' compensation premium or have billing questions to our Premium Accounting Department as soon as possible to discuss available options. We are open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. EST at 1-800-660-1306 or bmemic@memic.com.

We are reminding policyholders* that payroll estimates directly impact their premium payments and that decreasing any currently overstated estimates would lower their premium and remaining installment payments. Policyholders may contact you to help make any necessary amendments to payroll estimates. MEMIC can also send policyholders a self-audit form to see if their actual payroll is in line with their current payroll estimates.

*State Specific Regulations and Policyholder Communications
Under state regulation and recommendations for New Jersey and California, we are sending policyholders a letter to let them know about changes they can make to their policy if COVID-19 and applicable "stay-at-home" orders have adversely impacted their business. For your reference, we have provided links to a copy of the letters to policyholders with New Jersey or California listed in line 3A of their policy.

· Policyholder Exposure Notice - June 2020 - CA.pdf
· Policyholder Exposure Notice - June 2020 - NJ.pdf

We will continue to monitor and adapt to state regulations and guidance to help assist our policyholders.

Get the Latest Billing and Payments Updates

Furloughed and Reassigned Employees
Payroll classification(s) may be impacted for employees who are furloughed or temporarily reassigned into new roles due to COVID-19. We are advising policyholders to contact you to discuss their circumstances and to get guidance according to specific rating bureau rules.

For audit purposes, policyholders need to keep separate, accurate, and verifiable records for each furloughed and reassigned employee (wages paid and furlough/reassignment length). If separate records are not maintained, the payroll classification for work normally performed by the employee before any COVID-19 emergency orders, laws, or regulations will be assigned.

NCCI Resources & FAQs
NCCI is responding to the numerous questions they have been receiving regarding COVID-19 and its impact on the workers' compensation industry. Check out this excellent resource for the latest NCCI-related information and submit your questions.

NCCI Frequently Asked Questions

COVID-19 Workplace Safety Resources
MEMIC recognizes that with changing work practices, workers may be exposed to additional risks, as they perform new tasks or must perform work in a manner that restricts human-to-human contact. While keeping each other safe and preventing the spread of the coronavirus is a top priority, the last thing anybody wants is an injury.

Our safety team is hard at work alerting policyholders of these potential new hazards and providing tools and resources they can use right now to help keep their employees safe during these challenging times. Our library of COVID-19 Workplace Safety Resources is being updated almost daily with new information--check it out and share it.

COVID-19 Safety Resources

Policyholder Webinar Success
“I have sat in on several COVID-19 webinars, and yours was from a completely different angle, a notch above the rest. Thank you for making it purposeful and something I can take back to the office and implement!"
----Traci Drake, Cornerstone Building & Restoration Inc.

Last week MEMIC hosted a live webinar to help employers develop a customized training plan for their employees to safely get back to work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 600 policyholders attended and the feedback has been positive. Please check out the recording and share it with your MEMIC policyholders who were unable to attend.

Now Available in MEMIC Safety Director
The webinar recording, training template, and resources are available for policyholders from Safety Director.(Search for "Pandemic Recovery Webinar) [NOTE: Login required]

2020-06-02

Alaska National

As you know, Alaska National previously established a moratorium on the cancellation of an insured's policy
due to non-payment until June 1, 2020. We are now extending the moratorium to July 14, 2020 for California
policies only at the request of the California regulator. During this time, we are not requiring you to remit
premiums that you have not collected for any delinquent account, notwithstanding the requirement in your
Producer's Agreement. To provide greater support for the business community during these unprecedented
times, Alaska National has not cancelled any policy for any reason related to COVID-19.

As we committed to you in March, when the COVID-19 cancellation moratorium expires, we will work with
you to pursue collection within a reasonable period of time so that you may receive your commission on
previously delinquent accounts.

Any past due balances that we billed in January 2020 or earlier are due immediately. If you have received
payment from an insured for any items billed, those amounts must be paid to Alaska National on the original
due date, or immediately if that date has passed; delivery of those funds cannot be delayed to the new due
dates. These revised due dates are to allow for extra time for insureds to become current on their past due amounts.

For items billed between February and June, we are extending the due dates as noted in the table below.

Items billed in July and beyond will be due on their original due dates.

Transaction Entry Month	Original Producer Statement	Original Due Date	Revised Due Date (bold)
Prior to February	Prior to 3/1/2020	Prior to 4/15/2020	Immediately
February 2020	3/1/2020	4/15/2020	7/1/2020
March 2020	4/1/2020	5/15/2020	7/15/2020
April 2020	5/1/2020	6/15/2020	8/15/2020
May 2020	6/1/2020	7/15/2020	8/15/2020
June 2020	7/1/2020	8/15/2020	9/15/2020
July 2020	8/1/2020	9/15/2020	9/15/2020
August 2020	9/1/2020	10/15/2020	10/15/2020

Please conduct any follow up billing you deem necessary to bring the insureds current and avoid
cancellation for non-payment.

Please contact me at (907)266-9273 or your Alaska National underwriting team with any question or
concerns.

Cincinnati

Policyholders are understandably concerned about their ability to pay premiums as businesses and organizations begin to reopen and we return to normal payment schedules on June 28.

Extending suspension of policy cancellations

While we hope that most policyholders can adhere to their current payment arrangements, we want to help by:

Suspending all agency bill and commercial property casualty cancellations due to nonpayment from March 16 to June 28. This does not apply to personal lines direct-bill policies.
Extending all life, disability and long-term care insurance grace periods to 60 days for premiums due between May 31 and June 30. This is in addition to the prior offering of 90-day grace periods for premiums that were due between March 16 and May 31.
Extending to a later date if required by an individual state.

This is an extension of previously announced grace periods for those directly impacted by the pandemic and is not a waiver of payments. Because we automatically extended to policyholders the 15% Stay-At-Home Personal Auto Credit, the June 28 extension does not apply to personal direct-bill policies and invoices will begin going out beginning June 1, payable in 30 days.

Billing and payment information
We understand that many businesses are operating at a reduced capacity or remain closed, and people are still out of work or living on reduced incomes. For those who continue to experience financial hardships, Cincinnati may be able to help.

Direct Bill – If you have standard lines personal, commercial or life policyholders asking about alternative payment arrangements. Please have them contact our billing departments:

Corporate billing (CinciBill®) – for direct-billed commercial, management liability, excess and surplus including homeowner, or surety accounts, 877-942-2455
Personal lines billing, 888-242-8811, Ext. 2002
Life insurance billing, 800-783-4479
Worksite billing group for companies looking for alternative payment options other than paper check, 877-564-0214

Agency Bill – Please call or email your Cincinnati agency accounting representative to report the policies and premium of affected policyholders, so we can properly track and note our accounting systems. Then follow these guidelines:

Account Current – For agencies that submit an account current, please include impacted premiums no later than with your June account current, payable August 15.
- Render Bill – For agencies that pay from our render statement posted to the agency portal, you may pay impacted premiums reported to us no later than with your June statement, payable August 15.
CSU Producer Resources Inc. – For agency billed E&S policies, you may pay impacted premiums reported to us no later than your June statement, payable July 15.

Please contact your Cincinnati agency accounting representative directly with any questions. General inquiries may also be sent to Accounts_Receivable@cinfin.com. You’ll find this agency bill information on our agency portal COVID-19 page. Direct bill information for your clients is also available on cinfin.com/covid-19 under Billing.

Thank you for trusting Cincinnati Insurance to help protect your clients.

Selective

Premium Audit COVID-19 Updates

We are reaching out to our mutual customers to stress the importance of maintaining proper records now, so they receive all appropriate credits during their Premium Audit.

Please review the Premium Audit guidelines summarized below to ensure you have a complete understanding of the process and can help remind our mutual customers the importance of proper record-keeping. Especially now, with various government-issued stay-at-home orders, adjustments to actual payroll must be detailed and verified.

Contact the Premium Audit Services Team at 866-397-1474 or myaudit@selective.com if you have any questions or need additional assistance.

Record-Keeping Guidelines

Payments to Paid Furloughed Employees
If you continued to pay your employees to stay home and perform no work during a time where your business operations have been suspended because of a federal, state, or local emergency order, you will need to identify the wages your company has paid to your furloughed employees and provide them to your auditor at the time of your audit.

Payments made to paid furloughed employees may be excluded under certain state orders (NY will include these wages at the clerical rate), if separate, accurate, and verifiable records are available.

Temporary Changes in Your Business Operations
If you have temporarily changed your business operations because of a federal, state, or local emergency order, you will need to identify these changes in business operations as they may affect the rating and classifications on your policy.

Employees working from home or performing new/different job duties
If your employees are temporarily being paid to work from home or have been reassigned to different work, please indicate these employees on the payroll records provided to your auditor.

Verifiable Records
It is imperative to maintain proper record-keeping with verifiable records including, but not limited to, hardcopy or electronic versions of payroll ledgers, journals, registers, vouchers, or contracts

Incentive Pay
If you are paying your employees an incentive for working during COVID-19, these incentives will be included in the premium calculation.

Important Information Needed

Please provide the following to your auditor:

Date furlough began/ended for each employee
Names of the employees who changed duties
- Date of change
- New duties
- Previous and current schedule
Date your operations changed
New operations your business is performing

Update: COVID-19 Credit Program

In mid-April, we shared news of Selective’s COVID-19 credit program. With a number of our customers sheltering-in-place and helping to flatten the curve of the pandemic, we felt it was appropriate to credit a portion of their premium.

As a reminder, here are a few highlights of our COVID-19 credit program:

We’re offering a 15% credit to both personal and business auto policyholders.
Customers with an inforce personal and/or business auto policy as of April 30, 2020 and May 31, 2020 will receive 15% of their monthly premium for April and May applied to their account.
Credits automatically will be issued without action required by them.

Customers should see the credit from their May period applied to their account by 6/15, with no additional action required by them. If they paid in full, a refund check will be issued to them in late June.

Please note, for Agency Bill customers, any credits or refund checks must be dispersed by your agency. We will be sending you, under separate cover, details about those impacted customers and the associate refund procedures.

This situation continues to evolve, but our commitment to our agents, customers, and employees remains constant. The entire Selective team is here, ready to support you, as we work through this challenge together. Thank you for your business.

2020-05-29

As a reminder, here are a few highlights of our COVID-19 credit program:
We’re offering a 15% credit to both personal and business auto policyholders.
Customers with an inforce personal and/or business auto policy as of April 30, 2020 and May 31, 2020 will receive 15% of their monthly premium for April and May applied to their account.
Credits automatically will be issued without action required by them.
Customers should see the credit from their May period applied to their account by 6/15, with no additional action required by them. If they paid in full, a refund check will be issued to them in late June.

California State Fund

In response to the Insurance Commissioner’s April 13, 2020 Bulletin to all workers’ compensation insurance carriers, we are reaching out to all of our policyholders to let them know about the premium adjustments available to them during the COVID-19 crisis. We’ve attached a copy of that communication to this email for your reference. We also plan to proactively call policyholders to discuss their premium adjustment options.

We will also share additional information with policyholders in the coming weeks about the actions we’ve taken to support them during this unprecedented time. Some of those measures include:

1. Placing a moratorium on policy cancellations and late payment penalties. We’ve extended credit to any policyholder negatively impacted by COVID-19-related events and offered payment flexibility to help them manage their cash flow.

2. Creating a formal procedure to enable all policyholders to reduce their premium basis (payroll estimates) to accurately reflect their actual workforce exposure during the crisis and to reduce their premiums accordingly.

3. Launching two workplace safety funds totaling $100 million in support:

The Essential Business Support Fund is a $50-million fund designed to help policyholders defray the costs of protecting workers and customers from COVID-19 by reimbursing them for workplace safety expenses. Individual reimbursements can total up to $10,000, or twice the amount of the policyholder’s estimated annual premium, whichever is less.
The Returning California to Work COVID-19 Safety Protocol Fund provides an additional $50 million in support for businesses that were not deemed essential by Governor Newsom’s executive order and begin to reopen as statewide stay-at-home restrictions are lifted. Individual reimbursements can total up to $10,000, or twice the amount of the policyholder’s estimated annual premium, whichever is less.

4. Accepting all claims by essential workers for a diagnosed case of COVID-19 regardless of whether or not it was contracted during the course of employment. We took this action before the Governor issued Executive Order N-62-20. Since that order, we have expanded our protocols to include the rebuttable presumption component and the timelines it lays out.

5. Expediting the delivery of the $160 million policyholder dividend our Board declared last year. We will now pay dividends immediately upon expiration of a 2019 policy, rather than six months after policy expiration as was our previous process.

6. Adopting and implementing the provisions of the WCIRB’s July 1, 2020 Special Regulatory Filing upon approval by the California Department of Insurance to ease financial burdens to policyholders by helping them reduce their basis of payroll through the following regulatory changes:

An employee’s payroll can be temporarily assigned to classification 8810, Clerical Office Employees, if they are temporarily performing clerical duties.
Payments for paid leave, including sick and family leave, made to non-working employees should be excluded from the basis of premium.
Exclude from an individual employer’s experience modification calculations all claims directly arising from a diagnosis of COVID-19 with an accident date of December 1, 2019 and later.

7. Creating a COVID-19 online resource center on our workplace safety website, SafeAtWorkCA.com. This resource center includes information about preventing the spread of the virus, work-at-home ergonomics, and links to official COVID-19 resources.

We value your business, and we’re happy to discuss any of these actions with you at any time. If you have any questions, please contact your State Fund Senior Marketing Representative or call our Broker Hotline at 1-800-834-2393.

On behalf of the entire State Fund team, thank you for your partnership.

Hartford

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Hanover has proactively worked to assist customers during these difficult times – and we will continue to work with those who reach out to us.

Schedule for resuming nonpayment cancellation practices
With states reopening and the expiration of state mandates, we’re writing to let you know that we will be lifting our cancellation moratorium. We will return to our regular cancellation practices as follows. As we lift the hold, there will be a three-day grace period. If you have agency billed policies, we request that you initiate cancellation for past-due Hanover accounts in accordance with this schedule.

State Date regular cancellation practices will resume
Most states June 1
New York June 1
Most states June 6
Massachusetts June 12
Michigan June 12
Missouri June 15
Arkansas June 19
California July 14
New Mexico To be announced when non-cancellation orders are lifted
Washington, D.C. To be announced when non-cancellation orders are lifted

If you wish to view a list of customers who have received an intent to cancel, please go to TAP and generate an activity report.

Support for those facing financial challenges
We recognize that some policyholders continue to face financial hardship. That is why we remain committed to finding appropriate solutions for customers who contact us. Our COVID-19 resource center provides more information about our billing practices, as well as helpful tips on how to reopen safely.

As we continue to emerge from shutdowns and stay-at-home orders, we hope you, your family and colleagues remain well. If you have any questions, please contact our agency support teams.

Personal Lines
800-922-8427
agencysupport@hanover.com

Commercial Lines
800-626-6601
CLbilling@hanover.com

2020-05-27

AllState/Encompass

Great news: the Shelter-in-Place Payback is being extended through June 30, 2020, for personal auto customers. U.S. residents can also receive free Allstate Identity Protection for the year by signing up by June 30. There are a few differences from previous paybacks – read on to learn more.

We led the industry by providing customers with a payback program, and have returned more than $600 million in April and May (May and June in New York), along with our Special Payment Plan and commercial auto endorsement. As our data shows customers continue to be driving less and getting in fewer accidents during the pandemic, we are extending the Shelter-in-Place Payback through June 30, 2020, for personal auto insurance customers. And more great news – motorcycle customers are included in the June payout as well!

And it should be noted that over the three-month period, Allstate is returning approximately $1 billion to our customers, without impacting agency commissions.

Important details about the June payback:

Motorcycle insurance customers are included.
Customers will receive an automatic credit to their accounts, with most receiving 15% of their monthly premiums.
- The amount reflects Allstate and Encompass' disciplined analysis of available data. The average cost per accident has increased, partially offsetting cost savings.
- You will be kept informed of the final amount as filings are submitted and approved.
- We are applying the June payback to the customer’s Allstate or Encompass account. Certain customers, like those who paid in full, will have their June paybacks applied to a bank account, credit card or via check – see the FAQs linked below for the details.
- In New York, the paybacks will be one month later. Eligible customers with an active policy in force as of April 30, 2020 should have received the May payback in mid-May and those with policies in force as of May 31, 2020 can expect the June payback in mid-June. We also expect to issue a third payment in July for policies in force as of June 30. The 15% payback will be based on the monthly premium as of those dates. Other than the payback dates, there are no changes to the program for New York
Communications about the June payback will occur at the end of May. Keep an eye on My Allstate Connection or Encompass Express.
The sign-up period for free identity protection for all U.S. residents will also be extended to June 30, 2020.

The Shelter-in-Place Payback can be a great opportunity to reach out to customers and prospects and increase retention, uncover cross sell opportunities and grow your book of business.

Please visit Encompass Express or My Allstate Connection for more information and FAQs.

Thank you for everything you and your teams are doing to support our customers during these challenging times.

ICW

Later today ICW Group will be sending the following email to our New Jersey policyholders regarding recent NJCRIB rule changes due to Covid-19.

Dear Valued Policyholder,

We hope you are doing well and staying safe.

In response to COVID-19, and in accordance with recent changes made by the New Jersey Compensation Rating & Inspection Bureau (NJCRIB) and approved by the New Jersey Commissioner of Banking and Insurance, please note the following as it relates to your workers’ compensation policy.

If you are on a stipulated pay plan, please notify your agent if you believe your payroll estimates need to be adjusted due to COVID-19.
If you are on Payroll Reporting (i.e. via our PayPro system), please be sure to accurately report your monthly payroll figures so the premium being calculated will correctly reflect your current operations.

NJCRIB Rule Changes
Please note the following NJCRIB rule changes that have been adopted by the commissioner and will be adhered to by ICW Group:

COVID-19 claims will not be included in Experience Rating calculations.
Payroll for employees who are being paid while not working will not be included in premium calculations for policies in effect on or after March 21, 2020. This will remain in effect until 45 days after the Stay-At-Home order is lifted.
8810 Clerical Class Code can be used for employees who have been temporarily re-assigned to clerical duties and/or a clerical environment for policies in effect on or after March 21, 2020. This will remain in effect until 45 days after the Stay-At-Home order is lifted. Please follow these reporting guidelines:
- Report the payroll directly in Class Code 8810. Payroll records must be documented to show the time period the employee worked in this clerical class code.
- Do not report payroll for those employees who are being paid while not working. However, please be sure to document these instances in your records.

If you have any questions regarding the above information, please contact your agent or email us at billingservices@icwgroup.com.

Travelers

Preparing For The Next Step
REOPENING BUSINESSES

To help you and your clients safely reopen as states ease restrictions, we created a robust suite of risk management resources featuring a series of webinars and articles, with podcasts and interactive tools coming soon. Check frequently for new information, including information for your small business clients to help them to prepare their property, safely bring back employees and welcome customers.

GET STARTED

Getting Your Shop or Restaurant Ready
As small business owners prepare for the “new normal,” here are some key considerations for their facilities, supply chain, and the safety of their customers and employees. LEARN MORE

Beyond the Basics - Cleaning During a Pandemic
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial for businesses of all sizes to review and update policies for cleaning and disinfecting facilities, equipment and vehicles. Share these useful guidelines with your clients. LEARN MORE

2020-05-22

Hartford

First and foremost, we hope this email finds you well.

At the height of the crisis in March, we suspended late fees and cancellations for non-payment until May 31, 2020. In most states that grace period will come to an end with June invoices. As always, we will continue to comply with directives issued by state departments of insurance.

As we are approaching the end of the billing moratorium, I wanted to reach out to you to remind you of a few important points previously communicated by The Hartford's President, Doug Elliot.

The Hartford will not hold producers responsible for uncollected earned premium on agency-billed business that accrues during the moratorium period, provided the following:

You must proactively request cancellation for nonpayment on all unpaid policies on or before expiration of The Hartford's moratorium or the state's moratorium, whichever is longer. We will initiate cancellation on any policy for which an installment has been subtracted from the producer's account statement unless you tell us otherwise or engage in new payment plan options before expiration of the moratorium.
You must notify us within 45 days after the cancellation date of the policy of your inability to collect the full balance due and the amount of the outstanding balance owed.

A copy of Doug Elliot's communication can be found on the Electronic Business Center website https://ebc.thehartford.com. For assistance please call 1-877-322-4833.

SAFECO

An update on Personal Auto Customer Relief Refunds

Processing Safeco Personal Auto Customer Relief refunds are in full swing. As we announced last month, for our personal auto insurance customers, we’re returning 15% on two months of their auto premium. The refunds are being issued by check or in the manner of their most recent payment.

We’re finding that as we’re processing electronic funds transfers (EFT) and credit card refunds, a small number are going into agency accounts as a result of an agency making a payment on behalf of their customer(s). We’re taking steps to reverse these payments and deliver the refund directly to customers with a check, however it will take up to three weeks after an impacted customer has been identified.

We need your help
If your agency has made a payment(s) on behalf of your customer(s), please check your bank and credit card statements for refund(s) from Safeco and/or Liberty Mutual beginning with a transaction date of April 29th or later. If you find any, send the following information to Commbx@LibertyMutual.com:

Your agency stat code and name on the bank or credit card account
Screenshot or copy of your statement that includes the transaction memo details in your account. There should be a 14-digit number with up to five leading zeroes.

If you don’t have the 14-digit identifier, you can still help us identify the transactions:

For bank accounts: provide the routing number, the last four digits of the bank account where the refund was made, the transaction date and refund amount
For credit card: provide the last four digits of the credit card number where the refund was made and card brand, the transaction date and refund amount

Additionally if you know of customers for which your agency has recently made a payment using your agency account, you can email us the customer name(s) and policy number(s). We can look into the details and proactively correct the refund method as needed. We ask that you do not directly issue refunds to your customers.

We apologize for any inconvenience this issue has caused, and we thank you for your patience while we process corrections. If you have any questions, please contact your Safeco territory manager.

2020-05-21

California State Fund

As we continue to work through uncertainties in the face of the COVID-19 crisis, State Fund remains committed to the health, safety, and financial support of our policyholders and workers.

This week, we are pleased to share updates about two supportive measures enacted to help ease the financial impact to our customers:

1. We are expediting the distribution of 2019 policyholder dividends

Beginning June 29, 2020, eligible policyholders will receive a 15% dividend for their 2019 workers’ compensation insurance policy. To ensure faster delivery, we have eliminated the previous requirement that policyholders wait for final billing and make their final payment. Instead, we will calculate dividends within one week of the policyholder’s 2019 policy expiration.
New criteria for 2019 dividends include:

Policy must have taken effect between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019.
Policy must not have been cancelled for cause prior to expiration.
If premium is outstanding at the time of calculation, we will subtract it from the dividend.

Policies that have already expired and met the original criteria for 2019 dividends will begin receiving dividend payments after May 26, 2020.

To find out if your clients are eligible for a dividend payment, please visit State Fund Online to generate a customized report. Detailed instructions are available here.

2. We are accepting applications for the Returning California to Work COVID-19 Safety Protocol Fund

This $50-million fund helps policyholders who are re-opening their businesses defray the costs of protecting employees from COVID-19. Individual grants can total up to twice the policyholder’s estimated annual premium (EAP) up to a maximum of $10,000, whichever is less. These grants are not a loan and do not require repayment.

Grants will be awarded to policyholders who follow California’s guidelines for reopening. Please encourage your State Fund policyholders to review the full list of qualifications, rules and requirements, complete this application, and return to covidsafetyfund@scif.com.

The well-being of California businesses, business owners, and workers is our highest priority, and we are pleased to be able to provide additional support for policyholders during this challenging time.

If you have any questions regarding dividend eligibility or payments or the Returning California to Work COVID-19 Safety Protocol Fund, please contact your Senior Marketing Representative.

Frankenmuth

Frankenmuth Insurance Extends Grace Period for Payments Through June 15
As we continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation, we recognize that many of our personal and commercial policyholders continue to shelter-in-place or remain closed while doing their part to help slow the spread of the virus. To provide peace of mind to our mutual customers during this time, Frankenmuth Insurance is extending its automatic grace period through June 15, 2020, to all policies, for all states of operation. During this time period, policies will not be cancelled for non-payment of premium.

If any past due premium is owed on June 15, 2020, a Direct Notice of Cancellation for Non-Payment (DNOC) will be produced and late fees will not be charged at that time. If a policyholder is unable to pay the past due premium in full prior to the cancellation date on the DNOC, we encourage them to contact Billing Services at (844) 488-9777 or (800) 234-1133, ext. 2214 to discuss options for a payment arrangement. Next week, your agency will receive a complete list of all policyholders with past due premium.

We have taken steps to handle increased call volumes, and ask for your patience as phone hold times may increase. To assist in maintaining service levels, for those customers who need to make payments, please encourage them to take advantage of our convenient online payment options: www.fmins.com/customers/make-payment.

As always, our team stands ready to assist you and our mutual customers. We will make every effort to provide the level of service that you have come to expect from Frankenmuth Insurance. Thank you for your partnership and support as we work together through this pandemic.

Should you have any questions, please contact your field manager, underwriter or Billing Services at (844) 488-9777 or (800) 234-1133, ext. 2214.

2020-05-20

Lackawanna

Recently, the PCRB published PCRB Circular No. 1740 addressing the revisions to the Pennsylvania Basic Manual and the Pennsylvania Statistical Plan Manual due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The changes associated with the circular relate to classification changes and payroll allocations for those Pennsylvania employers whose business operations have been disrupted by the pandemic.

While we encourage you to read the entire publication, a summary of the key revisions is provided below, for your convenience.

Upon review of the revisions, we do ask that you please advise your policyholders that, in order for the payrolls to be properly allocated, and correct job classification(s) assigned upon the completion of the final audit, separate payroll records must be kept during the COVID-19 disruption periods and should include:

The names of the employees
Dates of the disruption in operations
The employees’ job duties during the disruption period
The employees’ payroll during the disruption period

Some examples of documentation methods would be:

If using payroll software, create a COVID-19 row showing hours and wages by employee from the date sent home until they return
Create a separate log for hours and wages for COVID-19 pay for employees working at home doing clerical work or being paid but not working.

Please note, when separating the payroll for the disruption period, per PCRB directive, employers should NOT include Bonuses, Vacation, Holiday, Sick and other benefits compensated/paid during the business disruption. These benefits will be included with the employee’s payroll, under their job classification code, prior to the business disruption.

As always, our Underwriting and Auditing staff are available to address any questions you may have regarding these rule changes.

Liberty Mutual

COVID-19 Update & Resources

See all updates (requires log-in)

This week's highlights

Visit the dedicated COVID-19 page for additional updates and resources.

Safeco

COVID-19 Update & Resources

See all updates (requires log-in)

This week's highlights

Visit the dedicated COVID-19 page for additional updates and resources.

Selective

[Extracted from the link in the "Connect The Dots" newsletter - 2020-05-20]

COVID-19 Updates and Resources

A few months ago, as the threat of COVID-19 spread across the United States, we saw state leaders begin to issue orders impacting business operations. We provided guidance to you, and to our mutual customers, to help address concerns related to: shelter-in-place orders, essential business operations, virtual workplaces, and complete business shut-downs.

Now, as we see some states beginning to loosen these restrictions and reopen their economies, we’re collectively facing a new challenge – how to transition to a safe environment which considers changes required by the need for social distancing, new sanitation activities, and occupancy operating requirements. Similar to our early guidance around COVID-19, we point you and our customers to the CDC as a valuable resource.

Their reopening guidance focuses on cleaning and disinfecting public spaces, workplaces, businesses, schools, and can also be applied to homes.
A complete overview of the United States Government plan for reopening is available on Whitehouse.gov.
You may also find value in these industry-specific resources for businesses and consumers from the American Industrial Hygiene Association.

We also urge you to consider state-specific guidelines as you prepare your agency and counsel your clients regarding reopening of homes and businesses in your area. These resources were recently shared in a co-branded email with customers for whom we have an email address.

As always, please reach out to your AMS or Safety Management Specialist for additional supporting business operations.

2020-05-18

Cincinnati Insurance

A Message From Steven J. Johnston Chairman, President & CEO

To Our Agents:
As insurance professionals we are in the business of planning for the unexpected. And, the past two months have tested those plans in ways we never could have imagined. I believe our partnership is stronger than ever as a result. We’ve worked together to overcome challenges and take advantage of the opportunities that materialize when the industry’s most professional agents team up with a carrier with the financial strength to remain a predictable and steady partner.

Outstanding Claims Service Continues
This spring also brought an active storm season, especially within our traditional Midwestern footprint. Our experienced and professional claims associates rose to the occasion, finding creative ways to settle claims while keeping themselves and your clients safe.
Our insurance operations produced a 98.5% combined ratio and $24 million of underwriting profit, even with a first-quarter catastrophe impact of 9.1 percentage points compared to a 10‑year historical average of 5.6 percentage points. Looking beyond the noise created by weather and reserve development, our underlying – or core – combined ratio improved 1.2 points compared with last year’s first quarter to 91.5%.

We maintained our trend of industry-leading growth, increasing net written premiums by 10% compared with the first quarter of 2019. Together, we reached a new first-quarter record for new business, growing 19% to $215 million.

The swing in our net income was driven by a change in accounting principles related to the reporting of changes in unrealized gains in equity securities we still own. In 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) changed the way it requires insurance companies to record changes in unrealized gains from other comprehensive income to revenues. As long as we are required to report the changes through net income – instead of other comprehensive income as we used to – we’ll continue to see a lot of volatility in this number.

Throughout our company's 70-year history, we've weathered many storms, and we have the technology, the risk management expertise and the financial strength to answer the call when your clients need us. Even with the recent volatility of the stock market, our equity portfolio still holds $2.5 billion in appreciated value before taxes. And, our $11.3 billion bond portfolio covers our outstanding insurance liabilities by more than 25%, ensuring we can pay all that is due under our policy contracts.

Global Pandemics Are Uninsurable Events
We are in the business of helping families and businesses in our agents’ communities recover after covered losses and will evaluate each claim based on the specific facts and circumstances involved. We continue to operate with the Cincinnati Ethic in mind – paying all that is due under the policy contract.

While we will evaluate each claim individually, our commercial property policies do not provide coverage for business interruption claims unless there is direct physical damage or loss to property. Because a virus does not produce direct physical damage or loss to property, no coverage exists for this peril.

Some loss events, such as this global pandemic, are not insured because they are uninsurable due to their size and scope. Efforts to retroactively rewrite insurance contracts to add coverage are unconstitutional, threaten the ability of the insurance industry to pay covered claims and cannot be the solution. A crisis of this magnitude calls for bold solutions from our Federal government.

We stand ready to do our part to support the families and businesses in your communities, by helping them to proactively manage risks and promptly paying covered claims with empathy and compassion

2020-05-15

Donegal

Recognizing that many of our policyholders have experienced significant challenges as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, we are committed to working closely with our agents and policyholders as we continue to navigate through these challenging times.

On March 20, 2020, we informed you that we would waive late fees and suspend policy cancellations that would otherwise result from non-payment of premium balances becoming due within the sixty (60) days following that date.

As we near the end of that sixty-day period, we are providing additional information with respect to additional steps we have taken to ease the financial burden the expiration might otherwise impose on our policyholders.

With the exception of accounts located in several states for which regulatory mandates requiring an extension of the cancellation suspension period remain in effect, we will remove the cancellation suspension for past due balances after the close of business on May 22, 2020.

Please review the information below with respect to our handling of past due balances upon removing the suspension:

Our billing system will automatically generate an invoice for any account with a balance that became past due during the suspension period.
For a policy term that expired during the suspension period, we will bill the balance due in full.
For a policy currently in force, the invoice will provide a revised billing schedule as follows:
We will spread the total balance due across any remaining scheduled installments for the policy term.
If no installment was previously scheduled within thirty days of the billing date, we will add an installment to immediately bill a proportionate amount of the past due balance.
Revised future installment amounts will reflect the original installment amount plus a proportionate amount of the past due balance.
The billing and due dates for the revised future installments will remain as previously scheduled.
No policies will cancel immediately upon removing the suspension, since all past due balances will be spread across current and future installments.
We will charge no late fees related to unpaid balances during the suspension period.
We have waived all unpaid installment fees that were generated during the suspension period.
All normal billing rules, procedures and fees will apply to amounts we bill after May 22, 2020.

As outlined above, we are attempting to provide a reasonable and equitable solution that minimizes disruption for our customers. However, we understand that some of our customers may be continuing to face challenges related to the
ongoing pandemic and may require additional flexibility or time to bring their account to current status. Please contact our Resource Center at (800) 877-0600, menu option 8, with any specific billing questions or concerns. We stand ready
and willing to assist our customers at this time.

Travelers

Agent News Digest
May 15, 2020

Taking care of our customers, communities and each other are our guiding principles and we thank you for continuing to meet the needs of our mutual customers. Please take a few moments to read these important updates on our business response.

Stay-at-Home Auto Premium Credit Program
We understand you may have received questions from your customers on when they will receive their credit and how it will be applied. We’ve created a payment timeline to help you answer those questions. Learn more...

COVID-19 Updates
To further help our mutual customers, we recently extended:

The pause for required vehicle inspections in Florida, New Jersey and New York until June 15, 2020.
Our billing relief plan through June 15, 2020.
The option to waive the down payment required on a new auto policy until June 15, 2020 for Travelers dwelling, tenant or condo customers.
Encouragement for agents to obtain signed auto applications if possible, however no signatures are required until further notice or in New York until June 15, 2020.

COVID-19 Response Videos, Inspired by You
You’ve heard about the many things we’ve done in response to COVID-19, but we haven’t shown you. Hear from our senior leaders and see how you and our customers inspire us to care for the people we are privileged to serve. Watch Now...

Remember to reach out to your Personal Insurance Sales Executive and to visit Travelers For Agents for all your business needs and the latest information on COVID-19.

2020-05-14

Cincinnati

Learn the Latest: Commercial Lines COVID-19 Updates

BILLING FLEXIBILITY
Hardships are impacting our families, friends and clients, alike. While we hope that most policyholders can adhere to their current payment arrangements, we’re here to help. We compiled questions that you've been asking us; check out the full FAQ for answers to these questions and more!

What can I tell clients who are concerned about coverage lapsing because they aren't able to pay their premiums due to government mandated closures?
Is Cincinnati open to other payment arrangements?
What about late fees?
How does this effect policies on agency bill?

Need Additional Help?
For Direct Bill inquiries, please contact Corporate Billing at 877-783-4479 or CinciBill@cinfin.com.
For Agency Bill questions, contact your agency accounting representative or email general questions to Accounts_Receivable@cinfin.com.
Unsure of the billing method? Contact your Cincinnati underwriter and we can help get you to the right person! Read Billing FAQ

UNDERWRITING & PRODUCT SOLUTIONS
Responding to Your Commercial Clients' Needs

Your clients expect you to help them navigate these changing times and we're proud that when you need solutions, you turn to us to help you get creative.

We’re here for you! Your Cincinnati Insurance commercial underwriters have the tools and the authority at their disposal to help you restructure the policy to best fit the insured’s current operations.

Vehicle Lay-up Credits
Employee-Owned Delivery Coverage
Exposure Reduction
Furloughed Worker Adjustments

When knowledge and flexibility are needed most, know that you can count on your Cincinnati team to work with you and the policyholder to find the best solution. Learn More About Your Options

INSURANCE IMPACT WHEN FACILITIES TEMPORARILY CLOSE

Many clients have had to cease business operations temporarily and have questions about how this effects their policy. We've got answers and information that you can share with your clients, helping them reduce risk while their facilities are closed.

Q: My client’s business was forced to temporarily suspend operations due to a governmental order, and they’re worried about how their policy will respond if the building is vacant. How can I ease their concern?
A: In circumstances where your commercial clients’ business operations have been temporarily suspended as a result of a governmental order closing all non-essential business during the COVID-19 outbreak, we will waive the Loss Condition that pertains to Vacancy in their commercial property policy.

Q: Having to temporarily suspend operations in this way isn’t something any of my clients have ever had to do. Do you have any guidance to help them safely and securely shut down their facility during this time?
A: It’s important to contact your clients to review other required policy conditions aside from Vacancy, including but not limited to:

Preserving the business’s physical plant and equipment
Maintaining automatic protective safeguards
Security

For additional information on how to safely shut down a facility, please share the link below:

Facility Shut Down Tips

PREMIUM AUDIT: AN FAW AMIDST COVID-19 CONCERNS

Amongst shutdowns, furloughed pay and adapting job functions, you and your clients have questions and concerns about how audits will be handled. We have answers. Please read our payment plan options and FAQ, and reach out to your agency’s premium auditor with account-specific questions.

Payment Plan Options

FAQ

EPLI HOTLINE AVAILABLE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS
To help you manage risk with changing workplace requirements, Cincinnati’s policyholders can call our Employment Connection hotline for guidance prior to making employment-related decisions – at no additional charge.

Policyholders call toll free, 888-811-3427, with your general questions, Monday-Friday,8 a.m.-8 p.m. Eastern Time. Contact your management liability field representative with all of your Cyber, D&O and EPLI questions. Read More

CFC-I: 50 YEARS OF FINANCING OPTIONS

CFC Investment Company finances leases and loans for all types of businesses, from modest to large loan amounts. Your small business clients may find this service especially valuable right now.

All it takes is one call from you: CFC-I will work with you or independently – whichever you prefer – to help you provide this additional service. CFC-I was formed in 1970 to help you. We’re not new; we’re on your side today – just as we were yesterday and will be tomorrow – ready to support your agency and your commercial clients in the same ways we always have. Please reach out to us at leasing@cinfin.com. Read More

LOSS CONTROL
Cincinnati's Loss Control Team Is Ready to Assist

We are committed to helping you and your commercial clients in any way possible during the COVID-19 pandemic. Don't hesitate to contact our Loss Control associates who can help with:

Telephone consultations
Online meetings and training
Resource information
On-site visitation where permitted and available

Loss Control Resources for Commercial Clients

Articles and tips are available on our COVID-19 resource center. Direct your clients to cinfin.com/covid-19 to share the valuable information.

HELPING BUSINESSES ADJUST
Evaluating Risk When Adapting Business Operations

Businesses are adapting their operations for humanitarian or business purposes. We can help evaluate the risk of these changes. Learn More

How to Safely Reopen Your Facility

Businesses are beginning to prepare to reopen. Share these tips with clients to help them create their written start-up plan. Learn More

Using Personal Vehicles for Business Purposes
Help clients understand the risk If they consider – or have asked – employees to use their own cars in new ways to keep their business running during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More

Tips for Construction Industry Clients
The COVID-19 outbreak has brought unique challenges to the construction industry, including construction site shutdown, contract language considerations and navigating expected labor and material shortages. View Construction Tips

Encova

Update: Extended grace periods
Indiana, Illinois and West Virginia and most workers’ compensation policies

In response to updated mandates in some states, Encova Insurance will extend the suspension of cancellations of all policies due to non-payment of premium for Indiana, Illinois and West Virginia to June 2, 2020. Again, this is not a waiver of payments due during the suspension period, but an extension or grace period for premium payments during this time. We will continue to comply with orders from each state's department of insurance as changes are made.

In addition, for all workers' compensation policies written by BrickStreet Insurance, AlleghenyPoint Insurance, Northstone Insurance, PinnaclePoint Insurance and SummitPoint Insurance, premium deferral has been extended to June 2, 2020.

As a reminder for commercial lines and workers' compensation policies, after the suspension period ends, we will release the cancellation holds and spread past-due amounts over remaining installments.

To best align the premium due with wages paid, adjust the estimated wages on workers' compensation policies prior to the recalculation. Encova will exclude payroll on paid furloughed employees if the insured continues to pay their employees who are not working. Your underwriter can assist with this process.

Directly impacted personal lines policyholders whose policies are canceled for non-payment of premium during this time should contact their agent to have their policy reinstated without a lapse in coverage.

Life policyholders will continue to receive invoices and any outstanding amounts due will be included. If policyholders are on an automated payment plan, their payment will continue to process as normal.

We appreciate your patience, and we care about our policyholders. While shelter-in-place orders continue to be in effect in most states, many communities are beginning to slowly reopen businesses, retail and medical offices.

If any of your policyholders have difficulty making an insurance premium payment after the grace period has ended, please call us directly to discuss payment options.

For commercial lines or personal lines policies underwritten by any of our companies, call 800-876-6642.
For workers' compensation policies, call 866-452-7425.
For Motorists Life policies, call 888-876-6542.

We continue to do all we can to be your trusted partner. If you have questions, contact your agency manager.

Additional resources
Below are links to previous communications about all our lines of coverage and our agency resources page:

ICW

Later today we'll be sending our policyholders the following information regarding the details and implications of California Governor Newsom's recently issued Executive Order on COVID-19 workers' compensation claims.

Dear Valued Policyholder,

As you are probably aware, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an Executive Order on May 6 regarding COVID-19 workers’ compensation claims in California.

Under the order, any COVID-19 related illness of an employee is presumed to arise out of and in the course of the employment if the following applies:

The employee has tested positive or been diagnosed within 14 days after performing labor or services.
The labor or services must have been performed at the employee’s place of employment (work performed at home or residence does not apply).
The labor or services must have been performed at the employer’s direction on or after March 19, 2020, and the date of injury must occur on or prior to July 5, 2020.
There must be either a positive test or a diagnosis by a medical professional who holds a physician or surgeon license issued by the California Medical Board. The diagnosis must be confirmed by further testing within 30 days of the date of diagnosis.

Items Worth Noting

There is no requirement that the worker be “essential” nor be part of “critical infrastructure.”
The order alters how benefits are paid. For instance, an employee must exhaust all state and federal sick leave specific to COVID-19 before temporary disability benefits are paid and there is a 30-day deadline for making a compensability determination. There is also no waiting period for Temporary Total Disability benefits.
The order creates a “rebuttable presumption,” meaning a claim can be rebutted by evidence that the employee developed his or her illness due to exposure outside of work, such as in the community or at home.

ICW Group believes this was an unfortunate development for California businesses because it will ultimately drive up the cost of workers’ compensation insurance. Our Claims Pandemic Response Team is here to help you navigate this challenge together and is committed to diligently investigating every COVID-19 claim to determine compensability.

Need Additional Information?
You can access additional COVID-19 information by visiting our special Coronavirus (COVID-19) Helpful Workers’ Compensation Resources website. Our Claims Pandemic Response Team can also be contacted for questions specific to work comp claims at 855.4.ICW.CLAIMS (855.442.9252) or via email.

We appreciate your partnership and will continue to share updates with you as they become available.

West Bend

West Bend returning premium to SMARTbusiness® policyholders

COVID-19 has affected all of us. Because of mandatory closures or changes in operations, however, some businesses have experienced a greater impact. In response to all that’s going on around us, West Bend is pleased to announce we’ll be returning 15% of 9 weeks of policy premium, with a minimum payment of $50, to all SMARTbusiness® policyholders whose policies were in effect as of March 11, 2020, the date the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. As you know, SMART policies aren’t audited and are rated primarily on exposure that doesn’t change, such as building and contents. Pending regulatory approval, these payments will automatically be issued as checks and sent to policyholders in the coming weeks. They don’t have to contact you or West Bend to receive the payment, and West Bend agent commissions will not be affected by this customer refund.

Through good times and bad, West Bend remains committed to our agents and policyholders. That commitment includes our dedication to providing The Silver Lining®.

If you have any questions, please contact your commercial lines underwriter.

2020-05-12

Berkshire Hathaway Guard

Pay-As-You-Go Billing Options for Workers' Compensation Policyholders

During a time perhaps like no other, when employers are experiencing varying degrees of payroll fluctuation, we wish to remind you of the GRIP and self-reporting billing options available to our Workers' Compensation policyholders that might prove helpful.

Learn more...

ICW

Later today we'll be sending our policyholders the following information regarding California Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) and its implications on who is covered under your clients' work comp policies.

California Assembly Bill 5 and Your Workers’ Compensation Insurance

Dear Valued Policyholder,

California Assembly Bill 5, also known as AB5, is now in effect for all CA policyholders and any employer with CA employees. Under the California Labor Code, the law establishes a new test to determine if a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. This means many workers you’ve previously considered independent contractors may now be considered employees, which impacts who you cover under your work comp policy.

While AB5 took effect January 1, 2020 for wage, hours and unemployment, on July 1, 2020, the law will apply to work comp coverage.

What you should know
Here's some important information! We’ve also created a helpful AB5 Resources page on our Policyholder Center where you can find more information on how this law impacts you.

The New ABC Test - To qualify as an independent contractor, a worker must meet ALL three criteria under the new ABC test:
- A. The worker is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of the work, and in fact;
- B. The worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business; and,
- C. The worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as that involved in the work performed.
Policies Impacted - The change is effective July 1, 2020 and affects all work comp policies – current inforce policies as well as new and renewal policies effective July 1 and later.
Industry Exceptions - There are several exceptions built into AB5 (see labor.ca.gov, AB5 FAQ # 4). Those industries exempt from the ABC Test will continue to use the existing Borello test for determining whether or not the worker must be included under your work comp policy.
Payroll Reporting - To avoid any unexpected premium charges on your Final Audit billing, you should report all payroll for individuals considered employees under AB5. If your policy is based on installment payments (not monthly payroll reporting), please contact your agent to make any necessary adjustments to your payroll estimates and installment payments.
After 7/1/20, all payments to workers re-categorized from independent contractor to employee are considered payroll and are included in your workers’ comp premium.
Policyholder Notice – Starting July 1, we will attach an AB5 Policyholder Notice to all current inforce policies as well as new and renewal policies effective July 1 and later.

We're here to help and ready to answer your AB5 questions at premiumaudit@icwgroup.com! You can also use our free HR OnDemand service for advice and guidance on the new law.

Please note
To comply with the new law, a review of your General Ledger and Profit and Loss statements will be necessary and conducted as a regular part of your Final Audit.

Liberty Mutual

As businesses start to plan for reopening, we are providing new resources to help customers navigate the impacts of COVID-19.

Restoring operations

Restoring operations: manufacturing

Restoring operations: construction

With extensive remote work, now is a good time to use our online portal to find details about Liberty Mutual policies and to take advantage of e-signature capabilities. Please note that Ironshore policies are not yet accessible online.

We encourage you to share these resources with customers.

Nationwide

With COVID-19 still presenting difficult circumstances for individuals and businesses alike, we are sharing the following policies and procedures that have been modified to help you respond to customer needs during this challenging time.

Extended payment plans
Since March, Nationwide has provided customers financial relief upon request by waiving late fees, deferring payments and allowing mid-term policy changes without penalty.

Nationwide will continue to provide billing leniency options through June 15, including customers who have previously requested leniency. This is a change from the previous leniency expiration date of May 15. The accrued premium will be spread across the remainder of the customer’s invoices. Encourage customers to contact the Service Center to discuss options based on their individual circumstances and billing plan.

Please note: When Nationwide payment plan guidelines exceed mandated requirements, Nationwide guidelines will be followed. When mandated requirements are broader than Nationwide guidelines, the mandatory guidelines will be followed for that state.

Retail and restaurant delivery
In March, Nationwide provided additional coverage for existing restaurant and retail customers who now engage in delivery services due to COVID-19 restrictions. This coverage, originally provided through May 1, will be extended through June 15.

Please note: If a customer has an eligible change in operation, that change needs to be added to the policy on or before June 15.

Commercial premium
COVID-19 has made a significant impact on the business community. Some businesses have experienced a slowdown or temporary shutdown, while others are seeing an increased demand for their business or the addition of delivery services.

As a result, commercial lines customers have reached out to update their coverage or reduce their exposure base. We recognize that many customers are in need of assistance and have needs that are specific to individual accounts.

To help you manage the calls you receive about premium changes, we will mitigate rate impacts on small commercial accounts as they come up for renewal. The mitigation will vary according to the specifics of each account and will be recognized in the next renewal notice. In this way, we can respond to customers' unique commercial needs and offer meaningful, long-term assistance as we monitor the ongoing impacts of COVID-19.

Nationwide stands by you
Through these uncertain times, Nationwide stands ready to keep our commitment to ensure stability and extraordinary care for customers and valued partners like you. Thank you for your efforts to support the success of our business community.

Philadelphia Insurance

To our valued producers:

Scammers are using coronavirus fears to launch phishing attacks – also knowing as email spoofing. They are using the coronavirus to mask and increase their attacks.

If you or an insured receives an email that appears to be changing well-established banking information, first confirm it’s not harmful. Pick up the telephone and confirm the information with a bona fide representative before changing your payment methods.

Here are some more measures you can take to protect your business.

• Verify the sender information to see if it is accurate. Beware of misspellings or letter substitutions in the email address - particularly the organization name
• Be suspicious of any email asking for your login credentials, financial information, or other sensitive information
• Be careful of any unsolicited attachment or link, including those through popular file sharing sites such as Dropbox or Google Drive
• Be wary if the email contains any of these characteristics:

◦ Emails with a tone creating a sense of urgency in order to try and compel the recipient to bypass additional levels of verification
◦ Emails from a known sender, but a change of tone or unfamiliar greeting, which can potentially indicate spoofing
◦ Grammatical mistakes and spelling mistakes in a message purporting to come from a professional organization

We also have valuable risk management resources on cyber safety while working from home and general COVID-19 safety on PHLY.com.

2020-05-08

AmTrust

Building Safety Month 2020: Safer Buildings,
Safer Communities, Safer World

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted the lives of millions of individuals across the globe, making safe buildings and resilient communities more essential now than ever before. Building Safety Month provides homeowners, public officials, and the public with the information needed to ensure the spaces where we live, work and learn are safe.

Learn More

Although the coronavirus pandemic remains top of mind as the U.S. economy slowly begins to reopen, it’s crucial to prepare for other types of disasters that can devastate a community, while also looking towards the future. Building Safety Month stresses how important modern building codes are in creating safe, reliable and healthy buildings – and keeping the next generation of building safety professionals motivated to move forward in these challenging times.

In the spirit of Building Safety Month, AmTrust offers loss control tips and resources to help your insureds create a safe, code-compliant workplace.

Berkley Mid-Atlantic

BMAG will be clarifying our coverage intent by placing the attached exclusions on our GL and Umbrella policies, respectively.

This is applicable to all new business effective 6/1/20 forward and all renewals effective 7/1/20 forward.

We will communicate on individual accounts in the normal course of business.

ISO pdf CU 21 58 05 09 communicable disease exclusion UMB

ISO pdf CG 21 32 05 09 communicable disease exclusion GL

Nationwide

We’re sharing important information and tips to support customers and your business during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nationwide recognized for customer satisfaction: During the last year, Nationwide has made significant investments to improve personal lines auto—including pricing, policy enhancements and new technology—and, thanks to your partnership, customers are taking notice. In a recent, third-party study, customers recognized Nationwide for overall customer satisfaction. We know customer satisfaction is a priority for you and we remain committed to making it easy for you to deliver value to customers. Our usage-based programs, SmartRide and SmartMiles, allow customers to customize auto insurance coverage based on the unique needs of all the drivers in their household. With Nationwide Express, you can transform the way you do business and ultimately, customers can bind more quickly and efficiently. Contact your sales manager today to learn more and take advantage of these programs.

Nationwide transitioning to a hybrid operating model: Last week, Nationwide announced that it will transition to a hybrid operating model that includes working from office in four main corporate campuses (central Ohio; Des Moines, IA; San Antonio, TX; and Scottsdale, AZ) and working from home in most other locations later this year. This announcement should have no impact on your experience with Nationwide. You will continue to have the same access to our products, solutions and people—and we remain committed to strengthening our relationship with you. Read the message from Mark Berven, president and COO, P&C.

P&C economic outlook from Nationwide Economics: It’s no secret that the shutdown of the U.S. economy to combat COVID-19 is expected to have a significant impact on GDP in 2020. However, if the virus diminishes and anti-viral drugs become available, we could see a rebound starting in the fourth quarter of this year with above-trend growth in 2021. See the full P&C economic outlook.

PL livery coverage extension has been extended to June 15: For losses occurring on and after March 23 through June 15 (extended from April 30), Nationwide will waive application of the delivery exclusion and extend coverage to some restaurant and pharmacy employees delivering food or medicine/essential needs on behalf of the restaurant or pharmacy. This coverage extension demonstrates the extraordinary care that Nationwide is providing customers during this COVID-19 pandemic.

Customers can check the status of their premium relief payment: On April 9, Nationwide announced a one-time premium savings of $50 per policy for personal auto policies in order to get relief in the hands of our customers quickly and simply. Within a week of the announcement, we started to mail checks. By the end of April, more than one million members received a check or savings posted to their bank or credit card accounts. Customers can check the status of their relief payment on the nationwide.com homepage here.

Selective

A few months ago, as the threat of COVID-19 spread across the United States, we saw state leaders begin to issue orders impacting business operations. We provided guidance to you, and to our mutual customers, to help address the business and coverage concerns arising from shelter-in-place orders, essential business and virtual operations, or complete shut downs.

Now, as we see some states beginning to loosen these restrictions and reopen their economies, we’re collectively facing a new challenge – how to transition to a safe environment which considers social distancing, sanitation, and occupancy operating requirement changes. Similar to our early guidance around COVID-19, we point you and our customers to the CDC as a valuable resource. Their reopening guidance is part of the larger United States Government plan and focuses on cleaning and disinfecting public spaces, workplaces, businesses, schools, and can also be applied to homes. You may also find value in these industry-specific resources for businesses and consumers from the American Industrial Hygiene Association.

We also urge you to consider state-specific guidelines as you prepare both your agency as well as counsel your clients regarding reopening of homes and businesses in your area. We’ll also be sharing these resources in a co-branded email with customers for whom we have an email address.

As always, please reach out to your AMS or Safety Management Specialist for additional support.

2020-05-07

Frankenmuth

Frankenmuth Insurance Position on Furlough Payroll for Premium Audits
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a serious concern among businesses about how furloughed employee payroll will impact their premium audit. Frankenmuth Insurance will not charge premium for furlough payroll on any General Liability or Workers’ Compensation audit while employees are not performing work for the business and are not present on the business premises.

To determine if a premium accommodation applies and complies with statistical reporting requirements, our auditors will need clear records of furlough payroll, kept separately from regular payroll records. Percentages of the total payroll will not be accepted. For workers’ compensation policies, furlough payroll will be recorded under Classification 0012 – Paid Furloughed Workers During A Governmental Emergency Order Impacting Employment.

Additionally, for employees working in an alternate capacity, such as modified job duties, their payroll for that time period will be classified based on the work they are performing, provided detailed payroll records are kept.

Please share this information with your customers so they may update their payroll records accordingly prior to an audit.

The effective date of this change is March 1, 2020. This position may be subject to change if a state or bureau mandates a different directive.

If you have questions, please contact our Premium Audit Team at claudit@fmins.com or (800) 234-1133 ext. 4013.

Progressive

We hope that this email finds you and your family well. We know that you are still adjusting to this new “normal” and we want you to know that our dedicated agent and customer service teams are here for you and your agency 24/7.

As a Daily Rewards agent, we thank you for your engagement with our weekly trivia and our growth promotions throughout the year. We hope that you enjoy them as much as we love planning them.

In light of COVID-19, we have decided to suspend the expiration of any points earned for the remainder of 2020.

Any points that are set to expire during 2020 will not expire until Q1 2021. Additionally, any producers who had points expire in Q1 on 3/31/2020 will see them reinstated in their points bank.

Don’t worry…we’ll be sure to send reminders next year as the new expiration date approaches.

We hope this allows you to continue to earn and use your points for something special.

Thank you for your partnership.

2020-05-05

Liberty Mutual

COVID-19 Update & Resources

See all updates

This week's highlights

BOP Refund lookup tool you can share with policyholders

View the recently updated BOP Refund frequently asked questions list

CDC resources to assist as some communities open

Visit the dedicated COVID-19 page for additional updates and resources.

Progressive

[Extracted from "Looking ahead] Email of 2020-05-05]

One important reminder: As our moratorium on cancellations and non-renewals for non-payment approaches its conclusion on Friday, May 15, we realize some customers may still have trouble paying their bills. If this is the case, please have them call Progressive customer service—every billing scenario is different, and in this fast-moving situation our customer service specialists will be ready with new tools and flexible options to help with post-moratorium billing matters based on each customer’s unique needs.

2020-05-04

Frankenmuth

Frankenmuth Insurance Begins Issuance of Personal Auto Premium Relief Checks to Policyholders
As you’re aware, Frankenmuth Insurance announced that we will be providing a premium refund of 15% to our personal auto policyholders for April and May. There is no question that stay-in-place orders, increased telecommuting and unemployment have reduced the number of drivers on the road, which will have a favorable impact on loss experience.

We have carefully modeled the anticipated impact these orders will have on our personal auto performance and we’re pleased to have received regulatory approval to issue one check for the total refund to personal auto policyholders in your state. These will be issued this week for policies in force as of April 30, 2020.

As a reminder, vehicles included are automobiles, vans and pickup trucks. The refund does not apply to automobiles in storage, antique vehicles, motorhomes, motorcycles, trailers and campers. The total dollar refund per policy is subject to a minimum $20 refund. There is no action that you or your policyholders need to take to receive the refund checks.

To help your agency respond to policyholder inquiries about our personal auto premium refund program, a quick guide has been developed. The guide includes a sample calculation and scenarios to show how the refund is applied to personal auto premium, as well as instructions for viewing policyholders’ issued check number, refund amount and check stub verbiage under Policy Inquiry in Agency Services. You can also leverage our COVID-19 response page, which has been updated with details regarding the refund program and a sample refund calculation tool to help policyholders estimate their refund amount.

During this time, you may also direct policyholders to our premium refund line staffed with Personal Lines underwriters at (800) 234-1133 ext. 3010.

As always, thank you for your continued partnership and support. We are committed to servicing your agency and our mutual customers, and bringing peace of mind to those who may be facing financial challenges due to COVID-19. Should these stay-in-place orders be extended and/or additional savings be realized, we plan to incorporate them into future rate indications.

To learn more about our response to COVID-19, please visit our website for more information.

If you have questions about our refund program, please feel free to contact your Personal Lines field manager or underwriter.

Safeco

COVID-19 Update & Resources

See all updates (login required)

This week's highlights

CDC resources to assist as some communities open

Help your customers get service with an online account

Personal Auto Customer Relief Refund - see answers to the most common customer questions

Visit the dedicated COVID-19 page for additional updates and resources.

Travelers

I hope all is well with you and yours as we continue to navigate our way through the challenges of these unprecedented times.

Below and attached are several Travelers update items specific to COVID-19 for your reference (please feel free to forward this e-mail to anyone else in your office who would benefit from this information)...

***NEW*** Risk Control Resources have been updated to include information specific to the COVID-19 Pandemic including Preparation & Recovery Considerations – links:

We have a wealth of Risk Control resources available to your Travelers Insureds and you as a Travelers Agency through www.riskcontrol.com.
The attached Risk Control Services Quick Card can be sent to prospects and policyholders describing our Onsite, Online, and On-Demand tools and resources to help your customers promote workplace safety and prevent accidents, including industry-leading safety workshops and training…perhaps a way to open doors and initiate dialogue with clients and prospects on risk management.

Here are the links to the resources Travelers has created to help you & your customers during these challenging times:

Regularly updated webpage dedicated to our COVID-19 response. Visit Site
Billing relief plan for customers affected by COVID-19. Learn More (extended through June 15th - note update message below from Tom McCormack)
New Premium Audit process during COVID-19. Learn More
A summary of the CARES Act for small businesses. Learn More

Additionally, below is the information needed concerning requests for vehicles that are not currently being used due to COVID-19…
You should send a request to TravelersSelect@travelers.com requesting temporary vehicle suspension or lay-up. The request should include the following information:

Named Insured and Policy Number
List of vehicles not being operated
Storage location of vehicles while not being operated
Reason vehicles are not operated
Start date of lay up
End date of lay up (limited to 90 days maximum)

Note that at least one vehicle must continue to be insured for the entire policy year.

For Billing & Premium Payment Questions / Assistance:

Direct Bill Department can be reached at 800.252.2268
Agency Bill Department can be reached at 866.594.4361
Personal Insurance Billing can be reached at 800.842.5075

Our 20% Commission on Workers Comp has been extended through September 30th (Select Accounts WC only)…
…monoline or supported, we welcome your Workers Comp opportunities.

2020-05-01

Allianz

Allianz continues to work hard to protect you, our brokers, clients and staff from the COVID-19 pandemic. At AGCS, our priority remains clear: to do our utmost to secure the well-being of our colleagues, clients and business partners. COVID-19 has caused disruption around the globe and our thoughts are with those impacted by the pandemic. In addition to the significant challenges we all face both personally and professionally, we understand that these challenges pose opportunities for us as an industry to respond to the changing needs of our clients.

With the growing number of restrictions that have been imposed by authorities, some impacted businesses have had to shut down their operations, meaning premises and sites are idle or largely unoccupied for an unexpected and prolonged period of time. Improper action or negligence when decommissioning building and production facilities brings risks for companies, and restarting operations in the coming weeks and months can increase the risk of losses. Being prepared by robust planning ensures safe return to work. In response to these circumstances, AGCS Allianz Risk Consulting (ARC) experts have produced a number of Risk Bulletins that provide an overview of security and prevention measures to help avoid physical damage and mitigate risks. Whether it's a small business in the local community or a Fortune 500 company with locations across the globe, our risk consulting experts understand these challenges and stand by to support our clients and brokers.

Our claims teams continue to closely monitor the situation and are ready to respond as quickly as possible to support our clients, evaluating each claim on a case by case basis. As previously communicated, Frank Sapio has been appointed Acting Head of Claims North America. Frank replaces Terry Campbell, who will continue as an advisor to AGCS. Our staff are fully committed and dedicated to providing the best possible service under any circumstances, and these messages strengthen our resolve. I want to assure you that AGCS is committed to working with you to address specific questions regarding policy coverage in relation to any risks presented by COVID-19.

If you would like to discuss risk mitigation strategies as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic or have feedback on topics you would like to hear more about, please reach out to your local Allianz representative or email us at: AGCSCommunication@agcs.allianz.com. The effects of COVID-19 on both our business and private lives remain unpredictable. Most important are your health and personal well-being, and that of your loved ones. Thank you again for choosing Allianz, stay safe and healthy.

For an overview of our claims capabilities, please click below:
› AGCS Claims

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty is adapting to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak daily, and we want to keep our clients and business partners fully informed as we respond to the latest developments:
› Coronavirus Update

Selective

As a reminder, here are a few highlights of our COVID-19 credit program:

We’re offering a 15% credit to both personal and business auto policyholders.
Customers with an inforce personal and/or business auto policy as of April 30, 2020 and May 31, 2020 will receive 15% of their monthly premium for April and May applied to their account.
Credits automatically will be issued without action required by them.

Customers should see the credit from their April period applied to their account by 5/15, with no additional action required by them. If they paid in full, a refund check will be issued to them in late May.

The process will be replicated in early June for the May time period.

Wishing you, your families, and your colleagues continued good health

Travelers

[Extracted from "Agent News Digest - May 1, 2020]

As we all adjust to our ‘new normal’ while working hard to meet the daily needs of our customers, this digest provides you with useful information to balance both. Please see updates related to billing and service operations that have been impacted by COVID-19, along with new tools to engage with customers and build your auto business.

Billing Relief Plan Extended
Effective immediately, we are extending our billing relief plan through June 15, 2020. The details of the plan remain the same: Cancellation and nonrenewal of coverage due to nonpayment has been suspended, and no interest, late fees or penalties will be charged during this period.
Learn more »

Exterior Home Inspection Update
On April 24, 2020 we resumed pursuing exterior home property inspections in all states except CA, CT, FL, MA, NJ, WA and downstate NY. The process has been updated to comply with all social distancing and protective equipment guidelines

2020-04-30

Acuity

Acuity recently announced plans to discount our personal auto rates to assist customers affected by the COVID-19 crisis. As a refresher, Acuity is creating a COVID-19 Reduced Driving Discount Endorsement that will automatically roll on to policies for 12 months. Our team has been working hard to make this endorsement available as quickly as possible. Listed below are the phases and key dates when customers will see this discount applied to policies.

Phase 1: Current and Future New Business and Renewals
We are pleased to inform you this discount will appear on new and renewal auto policies issued on or after April 30, 2020. The discount will appear as a credit for each unit on Acuity’s quote/application and declarations. Comparative raters will automatically include the credit upon quoting as well.

Phase 2: Apply discount to policies issued since March 11, 2020
Within the next couple weeks, we will begin the process of applying the discount to policies with an effective date between March 11, 2020, and April 30, 2020. This discount will appear as a credit on declarations.

Thank you for all that you do to help our mutual customers through this challenging time. We love you, and stay safe!

As potentially the only recipient of this message for your agency, please share this email and information with all of your office(s) and staff. Thank you.

Chubb

[NOTE: This is the cover page and Table of contents to a 9-page document that is available here and should be viewed in its entirety]

Guidance for Producers on Billing & Collections Related to COVID

Below are the major themes and questions about billing and collections that we have received from our distribution partners as we’ve navigated together through the COVID-19 pandemic. We have worked, and will continue to work, to provide you with such guidance to address your questions and our mutual Clients’ concerns.

We plan on updating this document to address any additional concerns raised in the marketplace. Please contact your local Chubb representative to discuss any items that are not covered below.

Table of Contents
1. Commercial Lines Voluntary 60-day Cancellation Hold
2. Personal Lines Response to COVID-19
3. Producer Agreements / Payment Obligations
4. Commercial Collections Post Cancellation Hold
5. Commercial Cancellations in Process Prior to
Cancellation Hold
6. Premium Finance Companies Cancellation
Requests
7. New York State Mandate on Installment
Accommodations
8. New Jersey Mandate on Billing and Installment
Accommodations
9. Small Business Support
10. Personal Lines Auto Support
11. Post Moratorium Installment Billing
12. Commission Payments for Installments
13. Post Moratorium Cancellations and Earned
Premium Calculation
14. Electronic Distribution of Agency Statements

Donegal

During the COVID-19 pandemic, our first priority is that of our customers, and Donegal is committed to being ”There When it Matters Most” now more than ever.

We are introducing a commercial auto “Lay Up” credit to address concerns arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic. We recognize that some businesses that we insure have been closed or have had their volume of work severely limited during this time, and auto exposures in these cases have been reduced. As a result, we’re offering a credit for those vehicles not being driven during this time. I have attached the “Lay Up Questionnaire” that will need to be signed by the insured and sent in to Donegal. I’d encourage you and your agents to contact Ian Atwood, your Commercial Lines renewal underwriter, to discuss specifics of the credit process.

The guidelines are as follows:

The “Lay Up” credit applies to commercial automobiles only and is not applicable to private passenger type vehicles (typically codes 7398 or 7391) on the schedule of vehicles.
The vehicles listed cannot be used during the time frame noted on the endorsement. This endorsement credit is not to be used for vehicles that have been used less frequently during the pandemic.
The “Lay Up” credit will only be issued for a period of 30, 45 or 60 days. The length of time will determine the specific credit amount. Please note on request to Underwriting how many days the vehicle has been off the road or is planned to be off the road. The endorsement will list the dates.
It is our intent to issue only one endorsement. All vehicles to be laid up (meaning taken out of use), should be listed on the original “Lay Up” endorsement. We will not be adding and deleting vehicles to/from the “Lay Up” endorsement after it’s issued.
The “Lay Up” credit applies only to the following coverages and “only if” that coverage is provided for the auto(s) listed in the schedule. The coverages include:
1. a. Auto Liability
2. b. Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists
3. c. No-Fault/Personal Injury Protection
4. d. Medical payments
5. e. Collison
  
  Comprehensive coverage must be maintained on the vehicle. In addition, the “Lay Up” credit does not apply to miscellaneous coverages on the policy (DOC, Silver Series, etc.) nor does it apply to any regulatory fees and surcharges.
The endorsement must be signed by the insured. Given the time frame involved, it’s important that the signed endorsement be secured promptly.
The “Lay Up” credit is not a suspension of coverage; as such, the vehicle tag is not required to be turned into any state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
All coverages remain in effect during the 30 day “Lay Up” period. There is no need to reinstate coverage.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Thank you,

Latest updates on Donegal’s COVID-19 response:
https://donegalgroup-blog.com/donegals-response-to-covid-19/

Encova

Extended grace periods and redistribution of past-due invoices

Helping to solve cash-flow issues for those impacted by COVID-19

We care about our policyholders and recognize that many are impacted by COVID-19. Shelter-in-place or stay-at-home orders are in effect in most states, and many communities are looking to slowly reopen businesses, retail and medical offices. We understand the impact this pandemic has on so many families and businesses.

In our, we announced our plans to suspend cancellations of all policies due to non-payment of premium until May 1, 2020. Due to the continued hardships many still face, we will extend the suspension beyond the initial date of May 1. Again, this is not a waiver of payments due during the suspension period, but an extension or grace period for premium payments during this time. We will also continue to comply with orders from each state’s department of insurance.

Commercial lines and workers’ compensation policies
Commercial lines and workers’ compensation will extend the suspension period through May 15, unless state-specific mandates require a different date. West Virginia is extended through May 24, and Indiana is extended through May 25.

Read our March 20 communication for additional details from each line of business.

After the suspension period ends, we will release the cancellation holds and spread past-due amounts over remaining installments.

To best align the premium due with wages paid, adjust the estimated wages on workers’ compensation policies prior to the recalculation. Encova will exclude payroll on paid furloughed employees if the insured continues to pay their employees who are not working. Your underwriter can assist with this process.

Personal lines policies
Personal lines will extend the suspension period to May 29. As communicated last month, directly impacted policyholders whose policies are canceled for non-payment of premium during this time should contact their agent to have their policy reinstated without a lapse in coverage.

Life policies
Motorists Life will extend the suspension period through May 15. Policyholders will continue to receive invoices and any outstanding amounts due will be included. If policyholders are on an automated payment plan, their payment will continue to process as normal.

If any of your policyholders have difficulty making an insurance premium payment after this period, please call us directly to discuss payment options.

For commercial lines or personal lines policies underwritten by any of our companies, call 800-876-6642.
For workers' compensation policies, call 866-452-7425.
For Motorists Life policies, call 888-876-6542.

During a time when peace of mind is a challenge, we want to relieve at least one burden. We appreciate your patience and support and will continue to be your trusted partner during this unprecedented time. We are all in this together.

Visit our agency resources page for our past communications related to COVID-19. If you have questions, contact your agency manager.

SUPPORTING OUR POLICYHOLDERS AND COMMUNITIES DURING COVID-19

During this uncertain time, we are inspired by those on the frontlines of our communities: health care workers, government employees and nonprofits serving our community members who are facing hardships and food insecurity. When peace of mind is hard to come by, we're doing what we can to support our policyholders and our communities. Read More

CYBERSCOUT PROVIDES COVID-19 RESOURCES FOR COMMERCIAL POLICYHOLDERS
Encova is proud to partner with CyberScout for commercial policyholders. As an organization dedicated to protecting your business's identity, data and reputation, CyberScout is here to offer you cybersecurity through the COVID-19 pandemic.

NEW PERSONAL LINES SOLUTION LAUNCHING SOON IN INDIANA
This summer, personal lines agents in Indiana will have the first look at our new personal lines solution. Through our state-of-the-art agent portal with an edgy name (stay tuned for the big reveal!) you will be able to easily quote and write business online, in addition to gaining access to marketing materials for our innovative new products.

ACCOUNT MANAGER/CSR TRAINING COMING UP
Next month, Encova and Oceanus Partners will host Account Manager/CSR Training, Elevation 2020: Empowering Account Managers and CSRs to Address Employer Risks. In this training, agency staff will learn how to adapt to the ever-changing industry and identify and address risks their clients are facing.

MAKE YOUR WORK-FROM-HOME SPACE MORE ERGONOMIC
While many of you and your policyholders adjust to working from home, here are a few simple tips to help make your workspace safer and more comfortable.

ENJOY SPRING TRAINING IN SCOTTSDALE DURING THE 2021 LEADERS CONFERENCE
If you’re missing your favorite sports due to COVID-19-related cancellations, look ahead to the 2021 Leaders Conference and dream of watching your favorite baseball team at spring training.

NEW SECURITY FEATURE FOR COMMERCIAL LINES AGENTS LAUNCHED APRIL 4
As part of our continued effort to provide you with the most advanced technology and customer service, we have developed a new, more secure way for commercial lines agents to access the Motorists Insurance agent portal.

WATCH HOW WHOLE LIFE INSURANCE SAVED ONE MAN’S BUSINESS
It’s impossible to predict the future. And when times are uncertain financially, whole life insurance can protect you, your family and your business from devastating loss.

JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST
Other members of your agency can receive The Loop. It’s easy to complete our email sign-up form to stay in the know and reduce the amount of forwarding to coworkers you have to do. Sign up here.

Millers Mutual

[Extracted Millers Mutual April Update]

Our Charitable Giving Committee at Millers exists as a dedicated community and industry partner, concentrating resources to have an impact on community development and safety. We have recently donated $10,000 to food banks in our operating states, as well as a $5,000 donation to the United Way of the Capital Region’s COVID-19 Basic Needs Fund. Learn More >>

Billing Support

Millers Mutual is offering billing support to customers who are financially affected by the actions being taken to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Should our customers have questions on setting up special billing arrangements, please advise them to contact us at 1-800-745-4555 to speak to a billing representative or email us at MMAccounting@millersinsurance.com. Learn More >>

2020-04-29

State Auto

Personal Auto Customer Savings Plan

State Auto has introduced In This Together — a plan to help our customers save on Personal Auto insurance during the COVID-19 crisis. We believe our plan is the best way to support our mutual customers as it provides long-term, substantial savings.

In This Together Plan
Our approach includes offering a one-time 5% discount for the entire next policy term for every State Auto customer with a Connect or Legacy Personal Auto policy in force as of June 1, 2020.

We're also offering every State Auto Connect Personal Auto policyholder the option to enroll in our State Auto Safety 360® telematics program, which includes an immediate 10% discount.*

Customers can earn up to 50% off their premium at renewal by demonstrating safe driving practices. Our Safety 360 program also rewards drivers who drive less, which means drivers can earn discounts even while staying at home during the COVID-19 crisis.

Additionally, we’ll continue to work with customers who need flexibility when it comes to payments and payment plans.

How Much Can Customers Save?
Here’s how our In This Together plan will benefit a Connect Personal Auto customer with $1,800 or $1,000 in annual policy premium with all vehicles on their policy enrolled in the Safety 360 program.

$1,800 Annual Premium Savings:
Safety 360 10% enrollment discount: $180
At an upcoming renewal:
In this Together one-time 5% discount: $90
+ Average 15% Safety 360 discount: $270
Total savings: $540

$1,000 Annual Premium Savings:
Safety 360 10% enrollment discount: $100
At an upcoming renewal:
In this Together one-time 5% discount: $50
+ Average 15% Safety 360 discount: $150
Total savings: $300

Frequently Asked Questions
We want to thank our agent partners for their support and for their questions. Here are answers to some of the questions we've received.

When will the 5% discount be applied to my customers' auto insurance bill?
The In This Together 5% discount will be applied at an upcoming renewal for auto policies in force as of June 1, 2020.* The timing of discounts will vary by and are subject to approval by each state. We will update you when states approve discounts and post a state renewal discount schedule.

Why aren't you giving the discount now?
None of us know how long this uncertain time will last and we want to be able to help our customers for the long-term, not just the short-term. Our 5% discount will provide more premium reduction as it will apply to the entire renewal.

Is there anything I need to do for my customer to receive the 5% renewal discount?
There's nothing you need to do for your customers to receive the discount — we'll take care of everything.

Does the policy term affect the 5% discount at renewal?
Whether your customer has a 6-month or 12-month policy term, the In This Together 5% discount will be applied to an upcoming renewal for auto policies in force as of June 1, 2020.*

For example, an Aug. 1, 2020 6-month renewal will receive the 5% discount until Jan. 31, 2021.

Find the answers to more FAQs here.

Discounts are subject to filing approval; the timing of discounts will vary by state. Safety 360 availability and discounts vary by state. State Auto Safety 360 renewal discount will be based on actual driving behavior.

Preparing For Severe Weather During COVID-19

The State Auto Catastrophe (CAT) team is prepared to respond to severe weather as we enter storm and hurricane season. Our dedicated CAT team, which is unique to State Auto, allows us to respond quickly as the safety and well-being of our agents and customers is our immediate concern.

We’re leveraging our virtual inspection tools that allow our customers to take photos and measurements of damages and upload them immediately and directly to their claim professional. These virtual tools accelerate the speed in which we can handle claims while providing safe and efficient damage inspections, which are more important now than ever during the COVID-19 crisis.

Please partner with us to encourage customers to work with their adjusters and utilize our virtual technology to limit person-to-person contact during the pandemic.

What’s Our Plan?
We respond before, during, and after the weather event. We closely monitor storm activity and provide an action plan prior to landfall. After the storm, we reach out to our customers to check on their safety and assist them with claim reporting.

It’s important to us that State Auto insureds are being taken care of by the State Auto CARE team. If a physical inspection is performed, our team members have been trained to take the extra precautions to adhere to the recommendations by the CDC, including limiting contact and maintaining social distancing in order to further protect our customers and communities during these difficult times.

What We Can Do Together
Our CARE and CAT teams stand ready to serve, but we rely on your partnership. We ask that you or your clients report all claims as soon as possible either by phone at 877-SA-CLAIM (877-722-5246) or on our website at StateAuto.com/claims.

Here are some tips to share with your customers to help them prepare for severe weather.

Family Safety
Establish a Family Emergency Communication Plan
Stock up on essential personal protective supplies
Plan for evacuation
Gather emergency supplies

Protecting your Home & Assets

Prepare for installing storm shutters or opening protection
Consider purchasing a back-up generator or make sure yours is ready
Gather emergency protective materials like plywood or sandbags
Ensure your sump pump is working properly
Elevate valuable assets
Prepare your outdoor space. Remove outdoor furniture, trim trees near building and clean gutters

Travelers

To Our Partners:

As the economic effects of COVID-19 continue to impact many individuals and businesses, Travelers remains committed to easing the financial burden for its customers.

Effective immediately, we are extending our billing relief plan through June 15, 2020. The details of the plan remain the same: Cancellation and nonrenewal of coverage due to nonpayment have been suspended, and no interest, late fees or penalties will be charged during this period. We will continue to comply with all regulatory orders and monitor and adjust our policies as needed.

Customers who are able to make payments should do so as they normally would. For Agency Bill accounts where your customer is unable to make payments, please contact us so we can work through a solution together.

Our COVID-19 site on Travelers.com has been updated to note this extension, and, as always, you and your customers may contact a Travelers billing representative with any questions.

• For U.S. Personal Insurance, visit MyTravelers.com or call 1-800-842-5075.

• For U.S. Business Insurance and Bond & Specialty Insurance, call 1-800-252-2268.

Thank you for your continued partnership, and stay healthy and safe.

2020-04-28

Lititz Mutual

Date: April 28, 2020

From: HenryR.Gibbel,President&CEO

Re: COVID-19 Update

All of our families, our friends, businesses, and communities have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In solidarity, we will get through this truly unprecedented situation. Our sympathy goes out to all those who have been directly or indirectly affected by the coronavirus, and we wish those who have fallen ill by this virus a quick and complete recovery.

Kudos to the Claims Department. Since the beginning of March, they have seamlessly been handling the 500+ claims generated from three CAT storms impacting all of our states. They are getting things done from their homes with the same level of care and service to our claimants.

Congratulations to the Underwriting, Product Development, IT and Marketing teams for the successful launch of the new Lititz Mutual BOP Rater on April 1 . Need training? Please contact your Marketing Representative for virtual training over the phone or via a scheduled webinar. Mike Styer and Ron Chamberlain, your Commercial Underwriters, are available to work with you on your BOP accounts.

Our office will continue to offer service from 8:00 am EST to 5:00 pm EST. Our Receptionist will answer the phones from 10:00 am EST to 3:00 pm EST. We have implemented an Automated Phone service for all other times. Please use the following extensions to reach us:

DIAL THE EXTENSION NUMBER ANYTIME DURING OUR TELEPHONE MESSAGE INTRODUCTION.

Payments/Billing – 8420
Claims – 8423
IT Help Desk – 8425
Underwriting – 8428
For additional Extension Numbers including individual extensions, please open Resources – Directory in our Agency Portal.

Thank you for your continued support and service to our mutual policyholders. Should you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact your Marketing Representative. They eagerly look forward to eventually getting back on the road to see you!

Stay Safe! Stay Home! Stay Healthy! Stay Positive!

Travelers

COVID-19: Home Closing Response

We understand that home closing dates may be impacted by the State of Emergency Declaration in Pennsylvania and want to assist with upcoming quotes and policies.

Details
• Use June 1, 2020 for the policy effective date and update that detail once the actual closing date is determined.
• If you've already issued a policy, you can cancel or requote it using the June 1, 2020 effective date.
• We will honor the original quoted premium if the new date returns a higher rate.
• Update the policy effective date in our Quote and Issue System.

Thank you for continued partnership as we work through this situation together.

2020-04-24

CNA

Vacancy Accommodations for First-party Commercial Property Policies

CNA understands that our policyholders may be affected by government orders and directives to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We recognize that adherence to such orders may temporarily change the way insured locations are typically utilized, and that some locations may not be occupied or may have reduced occupancy.

First-party commercial property policies issued by a CNA underwriting company may contain a “vacancy” provision that limits or precludes coverage for certain perils where the property has been vacant for a specified period of time, typically 60 days, as set forth in the policy.

In an effort to address concerns about the application of the vacancy provision occasioned by such temporary changes in operations, CNA will not consider a building to be vacant (as that term is defined in our policies) for the days during any period of occupancy where such occupancy changed solely as a result of a government stay at home order or similar directive relative to COVID-19.

This accommodation is applicable only to CNA Paramount® (including all WorldPass® and Passport®), CNA Signature, and CNA Connect® commercial first-party property policies and will be considered effective through the earlier of the expiration of any applicable government order or directive or June 1, 2020.

Please understand this notice is not a representation that coverage does or does not exist for any particular claim or loss under any such policies. All terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions of the policies remain in effect.

We are committed to staying connected to you during this time. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your Property underwriter with any questions.

Visit our COVID-19 page on cna.com for more information

Donegal

Many of you have asked about Donegal’s position in light of recent announcements by a number of insurance carriers outlining their plans to reduce premium rates or issue refunds on personal auto policies. We will closely monitor and assess our claim trends as the year progresses and make appropriate corresponding rate adjustments as warranted.

Our first priority is to make sure that we remain a financially sound insurance provider so that we are “there when it matters most” for all of our customers in the event of a covered loss. We simply do not believe a refund program is in the best long-term interests of our policyholders, our agents or our company at this time.

Goodville Mutual

I’ve heard from many of you in response to our COVID-19 communication released yesterday. Thank you for your prompt feedback including questions, concerns and support of our approach.

To allay some of your concerns, let me address a few of the common themes conveyed by email and phone:

There is no need for you to proactively reach out to your clients as a detailed letter will be sent directly to all personal auto policyholders next week.
Members can request a premium credit by going to the Goodville website, or through a dedicated 800 number.
The amount of the premium credit will be included in the member letter along with a formula for calculating the credit.
Additional support and information will be provided to agents prior to the release of the member letter, including an email that you can forward to your clients containing the details and options available.

Below is a draft version of the frequently asked questions (FAQs) that will be included in the member letter which should further clarify the process.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: What do I need to do if I want to allow my credit to be used to support charities addressing needs in our communities?
A: Nothing. If we do not hear from you by June 15, 2020, your credit will be added to the fund for charity automatically.
Q: Why isn’t Goodville just sending out credits or checks rather than go through this process?
A: We recognize that not all members are experiencing this situation equally. Some are continuing to work and receiving their full income, while others are experiencing significant hardship. The credit is calculated based on reduced risk for the group, but we are offering to distribute it based on need if a member is able to help others.
Q: Where will my credit go if I choose to let Goodville distribute it?
A: Until we know how many dollars will be available we cannot provide exact numbers, but 100% will be returned to members or to charity. Once complete, we will provide more information on our public website.
Q: What else is Goodville doing to provide relief to people who are struggling with the impact of COVID-19?
A: Since the outbreak began we have instituted numerous steps to provide short term assistance. Those include suspension of all policy cancellations for non-payment, waiving NSF fees, and other appropriate adjustments to commercial policies upon request.
Q: If I request a credit how will the amount be calculated?
A: Each member is eligible for a credit of 15% of the normal auto policy premium for the months of April and May. This amount will vary depending on your coverages, but the average amount is approximately $34 per policy.
Q: How will COVID-19 and Goodville’s response impact my auto premiums in the future?
A: Goodville has always taken a long-term view regarding rates. Any reduction in claims will be included in our loss calculations as we consider future rate filings, so any reduced risk will be factored into those rates going forward.
Q: When will my credit be applied? / When will I receive my check?
A: Details are not 100% final, but we expect credits to be applied and checks to be mailed during the month of June.
Q: Does this credit require Insurance Department approval?
A: This return of premium strategy has been filed with all states, approved in several, and is pending in the remaining states. As these states review and approve, we will adjust our strategy based on any specific state requirements.

We will communicate with you throughout this process and the Goodville staff is available to you for help and support. As mentioned in my initial communication, the Goodville COVID-19 strategy is different than many of our competitor’s responses to the crisis and may create a little more work for us, but the principle of mutual aid and our desire to help those in need makes this a worthwhile journey.

As a representative of the Goodville brand, we are counting on you to support this unique message as you communicate with members. We believe this is a critical opportunity to demonstrate compassion and care for each other and for our communities!

ICW

We hope you are well and staying healthy! Later today we'll be sending our policyholders in New Jersey the following information regarding the option to seek a 90-day grace period for workers' compensation premium payments.

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, we understand you may have experienced unavoidable business challenges. In consultation with the Office of the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, we would like to advise you of your option to seek a 90-day grace period for your workers’ compensation premium payments.

Payment Grace Period
You may elect to begin this grace period April 1, 2020 (retroactively), or on May 1, 2020.

During this extended grace period:

We will not cancel your policy for non-payment of premium.
We will also waive any late payment fees.

All accrued premiums are due at the end of this selected grace period. However, you have the option of paying this amount over the remainder of your policy term, or in 12 equal installments over 12 months.

Your Next Steps
If you decide to select this grace period option, please note the following:

If you choose to begin your grace period on April 1 – no action is needed.
If you wish to start your grace period on May 1, please contact us at BillingServices@icwgroup.com or 858.350.7262. You can also contact your agent.
If you would like to pay your accrued premium over your policy's current term or over 12 months – please also contact us.

Please note: Regardless of whether we hear from you, we will not take any action to cancel your policy for non-payment of premium prior to June 30th, 2020.

Thank you for your continued business with us and we wish you well during these turbulent times.

Liberty Mutual

We’ve been working remotely for more than five weeks now, and while we’re all eager to reconnect in person, it’s been amazing to see how productive and innovative everyone has been. I’m proud of our own teams, and impressed by how you, our broker partners, and our mutual clients have adapted to our current environment.

Across Global Risk Solutions (GRS) North America, we’re continuing to quote and win new business, renew existing accounts, perform risk control services, handle claims, and do everything else we need to do to keep operations running. And we’re getting to know our customers, our broker partners, and each other in new and different ways, as many of us do all these things from our kitchens, home-offices, and guest bedrooms.

Employees
Our employees’ health and well-being remains top of mind. Like many of you, we are all experiencing the ups and downs of working from home. While some of our employees are enjoying a break from their long commutes, many are figuring out how to balance work and family life in these challenging times. We recognize that working from home over a long period of time can take a toll on one’s mental health, and Liberty has introduced a number of resources and tools to support employee health and wellness.

Underwriting
Our teams are continuing to underwrite new submissions and renewals, and I’m encouraged by how quickly we’ve adapted to working with your teams in new ways. We’re also working diligently to address exposure changes where needed. While some clients are needing to reduce coverage due to temporary closings or scaling back operations, we’ve also seen businesses retool their operations to be part of the COVID-19 response effort. In these cases, we are working quickly to provide new terms and be as flexible as possible. We’re also providing risk services and consulting support to assist these clients as they transition their operations.

Risk control and engineering
Our risk control consulting team is continuing to provide fast response times and assist with a range of risk control needs. Our long-established teams are more important than ever. In addition to using technology to observe and assess tasks, processes, and properties remotely, we have developed a number of useful COVID-19-related risk control resources, which can be found on our COVID-19 Viewpoint site. While we can do a lot remotely, there are some things we can’t do, like some of our risk engineering assessments. Once it is deemed safe, our risk engineers will be back out visiting sites in person.

Claims and service
Our claims and account management teams are fully operational while working from home, and able to assist with any claim or claim-related issue that you may have. Our teams are leveraging many of the digital solutions that we’ve created over the past few years, including virtual estimating of property claims, telemedicine for workers compensation appointments, and electronic claim reporting via our Report-a-Claim platform. All COVID-19 claims are being handled by experienced claims specialists, and we have provided additional information for workers compensation COVID-19 claims within our Viewpoint site.

Giving back
Liberty has given $15M to COVID-19 response efforts. This support will benefit organizations working to help our most vulnerable populations. The support will provide help to those organizations on the frontlines of treating those who are ill, and providing food and shelter to the most vulnerable populations that have been impacted by the pandemic, including low-income residents and those experiencing homelessness. I am proud of Liberty’s commitment to help some of the most at-risk people in our communities.

While the last few weeks have been challenging, they have also been incredibly rewarding. I remain optimistic that we will emerge from this crisis stronger and more collaborative than we’ve ever been. I believe that relationships are strengthened during times of adversity, and expect this will be true between our organizations.

Thank you for your ongoing partnership.

A message from Your Local Liberty Mutual Business Lines and Safeco Insurance Team

Overwhelmed with Carrier COVID19 Information?

We understand that you have many carriers communicating vast amounts of information related to COVID19 and that you may not have been able to review them all. To help provide a comprehensive update on all Liberty Mutual Business Lines & Safeco Personal Lines COVID19 responses to date, we are offering two 30 minute webinars tomorrow, Thursday, April 23. The content will be the same and we will cover both LM Business Lines and Safeco Insurance topics in each session.

If you have already registered to join us, thank you! No need to register again.

To Register - agents with dual appointments, please register via any of the links below. For agencies without dual appointments, please use the link to which you are appointed:

Liberty Mutual:
Option# 1
10:00 - 10:30 a.m.
Option# 2
1:00 - 1:30 p.m.

IMPORTANT: LM Business Lines Agents, for a document that outlines how to access the Agent Learning Center. REGISTER

SAFECO
Option# 1
10:00 -10:30 a.m.
Option# 2
1:00 -1:30 p.m.

[NOTE: both links require agency log-in codes]

Safeco

A message from Your Local Liberty Mutual Business Lines and Safeco Insurance Team

Overwhelmed with Carrier COVID19 Information?

If you have already registered to join us, thank you! No need to register again.

To Register - agents with dual appointments, please register via any of the links below. For agencies without dual appointments, please use the link to which you are appointed:

Liberty Mutual:
Option# 1
10:00 - 10:30 a.m.
Option# 2
1:00 - 1:30 p.m.

IMPORTANT: LM Business Lines Agents, for a document that outlines how to access the Agent Learning Center. REGISTER

SAFECO
Option# 1
10:00 -10:30 a.m.
Option# 2
1:00 -1:30 p.m.

[NOTE: both links require agency log-in codes]

2020-04-23

Nationwide

Hope all is still well. There have been several questions on how the $50 refund will be issued. Please see below for clarification. We are also sending out emails advising of the refund, method, and timeline. See below for an example. Harleysville platform customers are also receiving the $50. Their process is a little different. Harleysville platform customers will receive physical checks only as their refund. See below for more details.

We are pleased to be able to do this for customers during this difficult time.

---

How will customers receive the refund? Do I need to take any action?

Customers don't need to do anything. Refunds will automatically be credited to the customers' most recent method of payment (e.g., automatich withdrawal, credit card, personal check) within the next 30 days.

Most Recent Payment Method		Refund Method
One Time EFT		Refund via check
One Time Bankcard		Refund via check
Other Payment method		Refund via check
Recurring EFT		Refund to account
Recurring Bancard		Refund to card
Signup EFT Refund		Refund to account

Specifically for Harleysville customers:

Will Harleysville Personal Auto policyholders receive the one-time $50 refund?

Yes for all Personal Lines Auto policies in effect on 3/31/2020

How will the refund be sent?

Physical checks will be issued for Harleysville policyholders. Processes to refund payments to bank accounts and credit cards are not currently in place on the HV systems. Reference in other communications to refunds via other methods do not apply to HV.

When will checks be mailed?

Checks will be mailed from Grove City with a target date to have all checks mailed by the first week of May.
Mail will display the Harleysville 355 Maple Avenue location as the return address.

Will communication be sent to policyholders?

The issued check will include a message to policyholders on the printed section above the check stating “COVID-19 rapid relief for auto policy customers”.
That memo will serve as the communication. No additional marketing insert will be included. Any reference to member emails is not applicable to Harleysville. Policyholder email addresses are not currently captured and stored on the HV systems.
Issued Press release links -

Agent note:
http://pages-nationwide.com/scpreview?eid=20683

Refund Release on Nationwide.com Newsroom:
https://www.nationwide.com/personal/about-us/newsroom/press-release?title=040920-nationwide-covid-19-refund

Refund announcement on Blog:
https://blog.nationwide.com/news/nationwide-covid-19-refund/

Refund FAQ on Blog:
https://blog.nationwide.com/news/nationwide-covid-19-refund-faqs/

Kirt Walker Blog:
https://blog.nationwide.com/news/nationwide-continues-to-actively-monitor-coronavirus/

Amy Shore Blog:
https://blog.nationwide.com/a-message-from-chief-customer-officer-amy-shore-about-the-coronavirus/

Who can I contact to find out if a check has been issued, cashed or if we need to stop pay and reissue?

Customer Service will have access to reports of checks issued and whether or not they have been cashed. They can facilitate stop pays and reissues if needed.

Will the HV policy systems show the $50 refund?

No, in an effort to get refunds to our members as quickly as possible, they are being issued outside of the policy systems.

Will policies be documented to show refund issued?

No, policy remarks will not be documented since this applies to all PL Auto policies.

We’re sharing important information and tips to support customers and your business during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nationwide’s response to coronavirus: Stay up to date on the steps Nationwide is taking and ways to protect yourself and customers. We’ll keep this page updated so you have the information you need to navigate the current climate.
Pausing collections for our members through June 30: In response to the financial impacts of many Americans due to COVID-19, Nationwide has paused its CL and PL internal and external collection efforts through June 30. During this time, the premium is still owed, but Nationwide won't actively pursue collections and we won't report collections to the credit bureaus.
Free economics webinar: Join us on Wednesday, April 29 at 1–1:45 p.m. ET for a free webinar where the Nationwide Economics team will share information and insights about the changing economic landscape followed by a Q&A.
Talking points to support personal auto premium relief inquiries: Use these talking points to respond to customer inquiries related to the personal auto premium relief and how they will receive their payment.

We continue to stand by you and are here to help. Please reach out to your sales manager with any questions or needs.

2020-04-22

Berkshire Hathaway Guard

REVISED

Amendments to New York Insurance Regulations Relative to COVID-19

The New York State Department of Financial Services recently issued several emergency amendments to state regulations pertaining to insurance practices during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As instructed by the Executive Order 202.13 dated March 29, 2020, we wish to notify you of our responses.

Learn More

[The following is taken from the link above]

Date: To: Subject:
April 16, 2020
Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Agencies Appointed in New York
REVISION: Amendment to New York Insurance Regulations Relative to COVID-19

Revised- Amendments to New York Insurance Regulations Relative to COVID-19

The New York State Department of Financial Services recently issued several emergency amendments to state regulations pertaining to insurance practices during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In direct response, and as instructed by the Executive Order 202.13 dated March 29, 2020 we wish to notify you that:

We are providing temporary premium payment relief for New York policyholders experiencing financial hardship due to the crisis. Specifically, we are suspending cancellations for non-payment until June 1, 2020, as well as waiving late fees for premium payments due on or before June 1, 2020. If a policyholder missed a payment due to financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic they may arrange to make these payments over a 12-month period. (This information will be included in New York billing statements.) As circumstances develop over the next few weeks, we will revisit this procedure and adjust timing as needed. We will also continue to comply with any directives issued by state departments of insurance on billing/payment issues.
We would like to ask you to pay special attention to the state amendments and instructions that include a mandate for “licensed insurance producers.”

To help us more effectively facilitate these arrangements for our policyholders, we ask that agents contact us after the moratorium to discuss outstanding payments to your book of business.

Please remember that all of our communications to agents regarding the COVID-19 crisis can be found via our Agency Service Center, COVID-19 page. As always, we wish you the best during these uncertain times and thank you for your continued support of Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies.

Encompass

The Shelter-in-Place Payment FAQ has been updated. Among the updates, you will see some customers have received calls asking for their account information - be aware that this is a SCAM, customers should not provide bank or credit card information or money to individuals who call regarding the Payback.

Also, did you know? New Encompass customers after April 1, 2020 are eligible for a May payback based on their auto policy on April 30, provided they have at least liability-only coverage and a payment has been made on their policy.

If you have any questions, please contact your Encompass Sales Consultant.

Shelter-In-Place Payment FAQ

[Note: this is marked "For Agency Use Only; Do Not Distribute To Customers", and is 10-page PDF document]

Goodville Mutual

After careful consideration of how best Goodville can support our members and their communities through and beyond this crisis, we’ve looked to our company’s roots to guide us forward. Goodville was founded on the principle of bearing one another’s burdens and being socially responsible. Our compassion and desire to help those in need has brought us to a conclusion that we are proud to share with our agents and members.

Goodville has established a fund of $2 million, that we pledge to spend on our members and communities facing financial hardship during and after the coronavirus pandemic. Rather than issuing a small refund check to all auto policyholders and move on with running our business, we would rather focus on those truly in need and carry through on the principle of mutual aid. Any funds not claimed by our members, or used to help members in financial distress, will be gifted to charity – caring for others in our communities who are impacted by this crisis.

We recognize that our approach to providing financial relief during this crisis is different from our competitors, so we are asking our members and agents to support us as we attempt to support those in need. We must all look for opportunities to pay it forward.

How do your clients claim a credit from Goodville?

If a member is fortunate enough to be charitable, we encourage them to leave their money in the fund to help other Goodville members impacted by this crisis.

However, if a member has reduced their driving activity and requests a credit, we will apply a 15% premium credit to their auto premium for April and May. The credit will be applied to the next installment or refunded by check, depending on the current payment options selected by the member. A request can be submitted online, by phone or through their agent. Details will be shared with members and agents via a member mailing next week.

Funds not claimed for premium credits will be applied equitably to help other members currently struggling to stay current with their premium payments. Remaining funds in the pool will be gifted to charities within the communities we serve.

As agents representing Goodville, we appreciate your support over the next several months to truly help those in need. Guiding and directing your clients through this process will ensure our mutual success. Sure, this approach is different but we’re a different kind of insurance company. Thanks for helping us demonstrate our company values of love, justice and integrity!

Mutual Benefit

MBG PROVIDING STAY SAFE IN PLACE PREMIUM REFUND

Like many of our competitors, Mutual Benefit Group believes private passenger auto policyholders should receive some premium relief as they comply with shelter-in-place recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are announcing our Stay Safe in Place Premium Refund, a $50 refund for each active private passenger auto policy in effect as of April 30, 2020. Please feel free to share this information with your insureds.

Eligible insureds will receive a letter explaining the refund; we have attached a copy of the letter to this email. We will announce the refund on the homepage of our website atwww.thembg.com, where we will also post a list of FAQs that your insureds can review for additional information. Our social media pages will include announcements concerning the refund as well.

Neither you nor your customers need to do anything regarding the processing or receipt of the refund. MBG will identify qualifying policies. Our billing department will apply the $50 as a credit to any outstanding balance on auto policy premium payments, and installment payments will be adjusted accordingly. Insureds who have paid in full will receive a check for $50 through the mail. Please note that policies in cancel pend status are still considered active.

Your agency will see no change to commission as a result of the refund.

If you have questions about the refund, please contact your marketing representative. We thank you for your continued support and representation during this unprecedented time. Stay safe and well!

2020-04-21

California State Fund

State Fund is taking additional action to support policyholders and workers affected by the COVID-19 crisis. In addition to the funds announced last week, our Board of Directors voted on Friday to increase our commitment by $165 million, bringing the total to $215 million in support.

Additional actions include:

We have doubled the size of the Essential Business Support Fund, bringing the total to $50 million. Since announcing the fund, State Fund has received over 800 applications for COVID-19 workplace safety support funds. The first several payments, all at the maximum $10,000 reimbursement, were sent to qualified applicants last Friday, April 17.
We have created a new, $50-million fund for businesses deemed non-essential by Governor Newsom’s executive order. The Returning California to Work COVID-19 Safety Protocol Fund will operate similarly to the Essential Business Support Fund, and will help non-essential businesses once the statewide stay-at-home restrictions are lifted. This fund will provide grants to qualified policyholders to help defray the costs of safety-related expenses, planned or already incurred, related to protecting their workforces from COVID-19. Individual grants can total up to $10,000 or two times the policyholder’s premium, whichever is less. Applications for this fund will be made available at StateFundCA.com after statewide stay-at-home restrictions are lifted.
Effective immediately, State Fund will accept any claim by an essential worker—as defined by Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-33-20—for a diagnosed case of COVID-19 regardless of whether or not that worker can demonstrate the virus was contracted during the course of employment. The diagnosis must include a confirmed positive test for COVID-19 and must occur during the period of time between when the Governor issued his stay-at-home order and before that order is lifted. This action effectively replaces the Essential Worker Support Fund announced earlier this week as all employees who would have been covered under that fund are now entitled to full workers’ compensation benefits. State Fund currently estimates these added benefits will require approximately $90 million in addition to the previously committed funds for a total of $115 million. State Fund will still provide temporary disability benefits to any covered essential worker who must self-quarantine if they are not covered by another source.

State Fund is proud to stand with the essential workers who are risking their lives every day to hold our communities together and we will continue to look for additional ways in which we can provide support.

We value your business and we encourage you to share this information with our mutual clients. We will send this information to our policyholders this afternoon.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact your Senior Marketing Representative.

Safeco

COVID19 Update and Resources

This week's highlights

[Captured from the above link]

A message about how we’re supporting our customers during the Coronavirus

En español

At Safeco, the well-being of our customers and employees is always our top priority. We recognize the uncertainty and financial challenges many of you are facing as the nation bands together to slow the spread of coronavirus. To help our customers, we have taken the following actions:

Personal Insurance Customers:

Personal Auto Customer Relief Refund

Fewer drivers are on the road, which means fewer accidents. With this in mind, we are announcing our Personal Auto Customer Relief Refund, which will return approximately $250 million to our customers. Here’s how it works:

Personal auto insurance customers will receive a 15% refund on two months of their auto premium, based on your premium amount as of April 7, 2020.
We are planning to issue the refund in the manner you made your most recent payment or by check.
We will begin issuing refunds in the coming weeks, after we have approval from state insurance regulators.
Your refund will happen automatically, and you do not need to call us to get your refund.

Relief Refund FAQs

Payment Flexibility Options

We have automatically stopped charging late fees and have temporarily paused personal auto & home coverage cancellations due to non-payment from March 23 through June 1, 2020, or later as directed by your state.

We are also extending payment dates if needed. Please contact us if we can be of assistance.

Download Our Mobile App Now to See Your Refund or Update Your Billing

We understand it’s a challenging time. That’s why the Safeco mobile app makes it easy to confirm you've received your refund and update your billing preferences, like changing your payment date, if you need to.

Delivery Coverage Expansion for Auto Policies
We have proactively expanded all our personal auto policies to cover customers who use their personal vehicles to deliver food, medicine, medical supplies, or medical equipment for a commercial purpose. This accommodation does not apply to drivers completing deliveries for a transportation network company or online only delivery platform. This additional protection is already in effect for all personal auto policies in all states for losses occurring from March 16 to May 22, 2020, and reported by July 1, 2020. Additional limitations apply, please contact us for more details.

Changes to Auto & Property Claims Process to Protect Customers and Employees

We’ve stopped all in-home damage inspections effective immediately except in emergency situations, such as water damage with an active leak or threat of mold, to avoid having employees entering homes. Whenever possible, we will do in-home inspections through RealTime Review video chat or other video collaboration tools. We will ask customers for their approval before using these tools.
Our adjusters will continue to do outside property inspections outside the home with customer permission. Our property adjusters will be following CDC Guidelines, including social distancing and following sanitation guidelines.
Auto appraisers will not be visiting customers’ homes or auto body shops except in emergency situations and will follow CDC guidelines. You can submit photographs of vehicle damage online and through our app, including using our new assisted-photo tool which will show you step-by-step how to take damage photos.
All other claims employees are working from home to handle claims as quickly as possible. For faster claims processing, we strongly encourage you to file new claims online, to manage claims online, and to use our digital tools including RealTime Review video chat and guided photo capture.
We are suspending our Claims Valet Service until further notice except for emergency situations.
We’re instructing any vendors who provide services to Safeco to follow the same guidelines.

Online Options for Personal Insurance Customers

For fast service, you can always go online at any time or use our app to:

Find state-specific personal/casualty lines insurance information regarding Covid-19

Visit the dedicated COVID-19 page for additional updates and resources.

Selective

[Extracted from the Connecting The Dots newsletter distributed 2020-04-21)

Advance Profit Sharing Payments
We've recently taken a number of steps to help our mutual customers deal with the financial strain caused by COVID-19, and we understand that our agencies may be in need of similar support.

In recognition of the importance of our strong agency partnerships, we've created a program to advance a portion of an agency's expected 2020 Profit Sharing payout, to assist in managing cash flow through these uncertain times.

An agency is eligible to participate in this Advance Profit Sharing Payment if:

Direct written premium volume with Selective was at least $1.25M at year end 2019;
They received Profit Sharing at the end of 2019; and
Current growth and profitability trends indicate a projected profit sharing payout for 2020.

Designed as an opt-in program, qualifying agents will be contacted directly and asked if they have an interest in participating.

We hope this financial support will help our distribution partners to continue delivering expert counsel and service to our mutual customers during this challenging time.

The COVID-19 Credit Program
Everyone has been challenged by COVID-19, but through our strong partnership, we will continue to work together to deliver the service and support our customers need.
We've made adjustments to pay plans and grace periods, among other things, to help our customers and distribution partners deal with COVID-19's impact. Since our auto customers are driving less and reducing their exposure, we also believe it is appropriate to credit a portion of their premium.
We're offering each personal and business auto policyholder a credit equal to 15% of their auto premiums for the months of April and May.
Pending regulatory approval, customers who have inforce policies on April 30 and/or May 31, 2020, will receive a 15% credit.
Credits will be issued automatically without action required by you or the customer.
As Businessowners Policies ("BOP") provide property coverage, they are not included in the credit program. However, customers with a BOP and owned automobiles will receive the credit on their business auto policy.
Your agent commissions will not be impacted.

To learn more about Selective's COVID-19-Credit Program, please read our press release and the Q&A available on selective.com.

This situation continues to evolve, but our commitment to our agents, customers, and employees remains constant. Thank you for your partnership.

We're Here to Help: COVID-19 Resources
Since January, Selective has kept up to date with health and government agencies in order to deliver accurate information to you and our mutual customers. There is an overwhelming amount of information around the pandemic, so we've compiled all of our available resources below for you to easily review as needed. Please keep in mind that things evolve day to day.

Trusted Choice® COVID-19 Relief Fund
The Big I recently established the Trusted Choice® COVID-19 Relief Fund that will provide cash grants to independent agencies (and their employees) that have been affected adversely during this unprecedented pandemic. The fund is meant to help with some of the critical short-term challenges that independent agencies are facing today, including the purchase of laptops, video conferencing licensing, agency management system upgrades and many other short-term unforeseen expenses.

The Trusted Choice® COVID-19 Relief Fund is a charitable 501(c)(3) organization and donations are tax deductible.

Alternative Solutions for Auto ID Card Delivery
We know that most of our agency partners have temporarily closed their office locations due to the COVID-19 crisis, which has disrupted the standard process for delivering Auto ID cards via mail.

There are several alternative delivery methods available, including printing them as part of an Endorsement Transaction, customer self-service printing options in their Online Account, and downloading them digitally in the Selective Mobile app.

As we navigate this temporary disruption together, we encourage you to remind our mutual customers of these alternate Auto ID delivery solutions, and utilize them yourself, too.

State Auto

We hope this message finds you, your loved ones, and your colleagues safe and well. This is certainly a challenging time for us all, including our mutual customers, some of whom are experiencing financial hardship because of the COVID-19 crisis.

Today, we're introducing our In This Together plan to help all of our customers save on their Personal Auto insurance, not just for the short-term, but for the months ahead.

Watch this video message from our President & CEO Mike LaRocco to learn about how we plan to support our customers during this difficult time.

In this Together Customer Savings Plan
Our approach to helping our mutual customers save on their Personal Auto insurance includes offering a one-time 5% discount for the entire next policy term for every State Auto customer with a Connect or Legacy personal auto policy in force as of June 1, 2020.

We're also offering every State Auto Connect Personal Auto policyholder the option to enroll in our State Auto Safety 360® telematics program, which includes an immediate 15% discount.

We'll notify your Connect Personal Auto customers about our In This Together plan tomorrow and encourage them to contact you or our Customer Service team to enroll in the Safety 360 program.

Additionally, we’ll continue to work with customers who need flexibility when it comes to payments and payment plans.

$1,800 Annual Premium Savings:
Safety 360 15% enrollment discount: $270
At next renewal:
In this Together one-time 5% discount: $90
+ Average 20% Safety 360 discount: $360
Total savings: $720

$1,000 Annual Premium Savings:
Safety 360 15% enrollment discount: $150
At next renewal:
In this Together one-time 5% discount: $50
+ Average 20% Safety 360 discount: $200
Total savings: $400

We believe this plan is the best way we can support our mutual customers during this challenging time as it provides long-term, substantive savings.

There’s no way to know how long the COVID-19 crisis will continue to impact our lives, but you can be assured that you and our customers have our ongoing, unwavering support — we’re in this together!

Disclaimer: Discounts are subject to filing approval; the timing of discounts will vary by state. Safety 360 renewal discount will be based on actual driving behavior.