The COVID-19 Pandemic and an Insurer’s Duty of Good Faith

Managing Crisis: The COVID-19 Pandemic and an Insurer’s Duty of Good Faith “Statutory Claims Handling Guidelines Remain in Effect!” By: Rick Hammond, HeplerBroom, LLC*   Background Numerous state governors have issued “shelter in place” orders that effectively close all “nonessential businesses,” i.e., those companies that are not in a critical infrastructure industry as defined by
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Insurance: When is a shareholder’s interest an insurable one?

The concept of an insurable interest forms part of the foundation of a contract of insurance. In South African insurance law, without an insurable interest a contract of insurance will be invalid. Usually, a person is said to have an insurable interest where he or she faces financial harm on the loss or destruction of
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Small Business Employer and Employee Options in This Uncertain Time

Many small U.S. businesses are facing uncertainty about continued viability as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. An important part of this deliberation is how these small businesses can not only continue operations, but care for their valued employees during continued operation. The legal landscape related to these issues is constantly evolving. This article addresses
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Mediating in a Social Distancing Environment

Life as we know it changed in January of this year upon confirmation that the Coronavirus had reached the US. As of this writing the United States has seen at least 217,263 confirmed cases of Coronavirus, and at least 5,151 Coronavirus deaths. The Coronavirus has been declared a pandemic, and is taking its toll on
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Paycheck Protection Program An Economic Lifeline During an Unprecedented Crisis

The U.S. Treasury Department released new implementation guidance on April 6, 2020 regarding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), including changes to interpretations for loan amount calculation. Additionally, the new guidance provides relaxed standards for applicants and underwriting banks. These changes could have a material impact on a borrower’s loan amount (it will likely increase the loan amount)
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The Math Just Got More Complicated

California Insurance Commissioner Suspends All Statutory and Contractual Deadlines For 90 Days After the Termination of State of Emergency California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has suspended all statutory and contractual deadlines associated with insurance claims for 90 days past the termination of California’s current COVID-19 State of Emergency. The Commissioner’s Notice does not mention the claims handling
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2020: Taxation on reinsurance premiums in Latin America

The world’s main reinsurance markets typically provide its services on a  cross-border basis for Latin American based cedants, considering that the reinsuring capacity within the region is limited, in comparison to the insurance companies’ demand. Consequently, these cross-border transactions imply taxation difficulties for the local governments of the country where the cedants are domiciled, as
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Does Time Stand Still? The Procedural Implications of COVID-19 in Washington, Oregon, and California

Insuralex´s exclusive member in California explains procedural implicatons of COVID-19 in Washington, Oregon and California The Procedural Implications of COVID-19 in Washington, Oregon, and California The judiciary tends to lag behind the rest of society when it comes to business practices. Many state courts have not yet adopted electronic filing. Personal appearances and in-person meetings
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The Coronavirus’ Impact on Business Interruption Coverage Is “Direct Physical Loss” Being Redefined?

Background Recent years have witnessed pandemic outbreaks of Ebola, H1N1, Avian flu and Legionnaires’ disease, and now the world is reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 (“Coronavirus disease”). Pandemics occur when new viruses emerge which are able to infect people easily and spread from person-to-person in an efficient and sustained way. Currently, the number
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COVID-19: Insurance Implications

Insuralex´s exclusive member in the UK comments on the insurance implications alongside local perspectives from Insuralex network member law firms in Italy, France, Spain and Japan Life, travel and event cancellation insurers closely engage in the rapidly unfolding global development of COVID-19 and prepare for the next few months The 2019 Novel Coronavirus that originated
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