To help guide insurance carriers and brokers as the COVID-19 outbreak continues worldwide, Crawford & Company has created a helpdesk function to ensure insurers can handle claims amid the developing global health crisis.
Crawford & Company’s “Coronavirus Claims Instruction and Technical Support Desk” will serve as a nerve centre to collect and broadcast the latest information on the virus’s global impact, as well as the insurance industry’s response to it, a release said.
“While COVID-19 has not yet been declared a pandemic, we do know that many of our clients are concerned about the health and economic impacts of the virus and that a major global pandemic could affect sporting, leisure or business events where a multiple number of people gather,” said Crawford & Company global chief operating officer Rohit Verma. “Numerous stakeholders are impacted if an event is delayed or cancelled and we are ready to provide advice.”
Verma noted that in the past years, there were similar global health issues such as the Zika virus, SARS, avian flu, and swine flu – all of which led to events around the world being cancelled. The cancellations led to many insurance clients asking their carriers and brokers about how they should handle their own events.
“We want to give carriers, brokers and corporates easy access to experts who are experienced in handling contingency, business interruption and casualty claims arising from such events,” Verma remarked.
A release said that support through Crawford & Company’s new helpdesk is accessible 24/7, with representatives from around the world available either for claims notification or private consultation to answers inquiries about the claims impact of the virus.
