This stands in contrast to a number of U.S. insurers that appear to be denying business interruption coverage. But there are some key differences between U.S. and Chinese insurers.
Key takeaways:
1. 68 Chinese insurers are offering some sort of COVID-19 coverage for business interruption losses.
2. Local Chinese governments are subsidizing some of the premiums.
3. Many Chinese insurers are state-owned and have the backing of the Chinese Government.
4. Faith that the Chinese government will take extraordinary measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 reduces risk to the insurers.
Insurance companies in China are taking on an unusual mission: They are promising to cover business losses from the coronavirus pandemic, as hundreds of millions of people return to work, and the country tries to rev up its economic engine. Since February, dozens of Chinese property-and-casualty insurers have rolled out new policies or expanded existing ones to provide compensation when workers contract Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus. The moves by Chinese insurers stand in contrast with the stance of many global property-and-casualty insurance companies, which have excluded infectious-disease epidemics from most standard business-interruption policies and avoided having to make large payouts. That has left many American businesses on the hook for coronavirus-related losses, prompting recent calls from U.S. lawmakers and regulators for insurers to help shoulder the growing financial burden on companies.
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