As we at Lether Law Group and the rest of Washington State enter our second day of Washington State’s Stay-at-Home Order, we hope all of you are staying safe, practicing social distancing, and doing as well as you can in these tough times. Lether Law Group is keeping busy and we remain open and available to assist you in any way that we can.
It has come to our attention that the Washington State Insurance Commissioner, Mike Kreidler, and the State of Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner (the “Washington OIC”) has also been busy. Late yesterday, Lether Law Group received a copy of a letter from Mr. Kreidler dated March 25, 2020, which is directed to all Washington State authorized property and casualty insurers.
The letter instructs each insurer to provide the Washington OIC and policyholders with certain information on or before April 1, 2020. Specifically, Mr. Kreidler is requiring that property and casualty insurers operating in Washington State identify business interruption or business income type coverages (including civil authority) that may be available under any of their coverage forms. This is similar to requests we have seen in other states.
The Washington OIC Notice Letter requires each property and casualty insurer to do the following:
Provide the Washington OIC with the volume of business interruption coverage, civil authority coverage, contingent business interruption coverage, and supply chain coverage the insurer wrote that was in effect on March 15, 2020. This volume is to be expressed in amounts of direct written premiums, policy types, and number of policies written of each coverage type;
Examine policies the insurer has issued and explain the coverage the policies offer with respect to COVID-19 – both presently and any potential future coverage. This information should be provided as a clear and concise explanation of benefits such that it is suitable for policy holder review. The insurer should then: 1) send copies of the explanations to its policyholders of each applicable type; and 2) send copies of the explanations to the Washington OIC along with a confirmation that the explanations have been provided to the policy holders.
With respect to the disclosure to policyholders, the Washington OIC Notice letter details what Mr. Kreidler has deemed to be all relevant information including, without limitation, the following:
What type of commercial property insurance or otherwise related insurance policy does the insured hold?
Does the insured’s policy provide “business interruption” or “business income” coverage? If so, provide the “covered perils” under such policy. Please also indicate whether the policy contains a requirement for “physical loss or damage” and explain whether contamination related to a pandemic may constitute “physical loss or damage.” Please describe what type of damage or loss is sufficient for coverage under the policy.
Does the insured’s policy provide “civil authority” coverage? If so, please describe what type of damage or loss is sufficient for coverage under the policy. Please also describe any relevant limitations under the policy. Please explain whether a civil authority prohibiting or impairing the policyholder’s access to its covered property in connection with COVID-19 is sufficient for coverage under the policy.
Does the insured’s policy provide “contingent business interruption” coverage? If so, please describe what type of damage or loss is sufficient for coverage under the policy.
Please provide the “covered perils” under such policy. Please also indicate whether the policy contains a requirement for “physical loss or damage” and explain whether contamination related to a pandemic may constitute “physical loss or damage.”
Does the insured’s policy provide “supply chain” coverage? If so, is such coverage limited to named products or services from a named supplier or company? Please also indicate whether the policy contains a requirement for “physical loss or damage” and explain whether contamination related to a pandemic may constitute “physical loss or damage.”
For each instance of coverage described above, please provide the applicable waiting period under the insured’s policy. Please also indicate whether the amount of time coverage remains in effect once becomes active for a given incident.
March 25, 2020 Washington OIC Notice Letter at 1-2.
As noted above, the information to the Washington OIC and the policyholders needs to be provided on or before April 1, 2020. It is also required that the responses be sent via email to Policy@oic.wa.gov and have “COVID 19 SPECIAL REPORT_NAIC#” as the subject line. Both the response deadline and the subject line are considered part of the submission requirements.
Given the amount of information requested, the likelihood that insurers will have several different coverages provided via endorsement or otherwise under each coverage type, and the very limited amount of time provided for the response, we at Lether Law Group wanted to alert everyone as soon as possible.
To the extent you would like to discuss the Washington OIC Notice or any other issue, or to the extent we can be of service in any way, please contact Lether Law Group at any time.
