Insurance for your Business during COVID-19

It is hard to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on our industry, but we believe in being well prepared in any case. We have spent a great deal of time speaking to our insurers and have some updates for our teaching community. 

What insurance should I have for my classes?

If you do not have Public Liability and Professional Indemnity Insurance, we would suggest arranging this cover as soon as possible. Public Liability and Professional Indemnity Insurance should protect you in case of future claims from members of the public who claim that negligence in the classroom led to their exposure to the virus. 

If you already have your own insurance, we strongly urge you to check the terms and conditions to make sure you would be covered in this instance.

If you do not have your own insurance, you can signup to join the Obby group insurance policy (underwritten by Hiscox) on either an annual or monthly basis for as low as £8 per month. Our policy will cover you in the event a member of the public would hold you, as an event organiser, liable if they were to contract the virus during your class or course. Our insurance also includes defence costs, meaning that if there was a claim made against you, you could pass it over to our legal team and we would do the rest.

What about lost income?

Businesses can usually buy a type of insurance called "Business Interruption" Insurance which is often thought of as covering you for any lost income that you face during a fault in your supply chain or other similar events.

Unfortunately, it looks increasingly likely that these policies will not cover lost income due to COVID-19 as most insurers have a caveat in their policy meaning they would not payout any claims in the even of a Global Pandemic Disease (which COVID-19 has now been labelled as). 

If you already have a Business Interruption policy, we advise you to read through your policy and reach out to your insurer to clarify if you would be covered. If you do not have one, we would advise caution before buying one now (as it is likely that claims will not be honoured) and so we strongly urge you to take professional advice before making any purchases.

If you would like to read up further about his, we have found some useful information provided here.