COVID-19 Small Business Insurance Program Proposal
First published March 20, 2020
Many small businesses have and will be ordered to shut down some or all of their business activities as a key element of the national effort to stifle the spread of COVID-19. This is a tremendous sacrifice we ask of these business owners and their employees. They face the potentially ruinous loss of income and continuing expenses from a lockdown that benefits us all.
Insurance usually plays a key role in spreading the losses of those impacted by a catastrophe. In this case, it is highly unlikely insurance coverage will be available to small business forced to suspend operations because of a government lockdown order.
The attached proposal seeks to leverage the insurance industry’s catastrophe response capabilities through a fully voluntary program to quickly deliver replacement funds to affected small businesses. With these funds, our small business could continue making payroll and sustaining the future of their businesses until this time of crisis has passed.
