NEWS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Brianne Spellane
The Council
202.662.4303
brianne.spellane@ciab.com
The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers Announces
Prospective Federal Pandemic Principles to Guide Association
WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 17, 2020 – The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers announced today its backing of a prospective federal pandemic program by outlining a set of “guiding principles” supported by its Board of Directors.
“It is important for us as representatives of the commercial property/casualty and employee benefits distribution channel to lean in on the most controversial issue within the industry today: whether the existing insurance industry platform should be a part of any going-forward strategy for how the nation will deal with pandemic risks,” said Council Chairman David O. Becker, chief executive officer of Cottingham & Butler, Inc., in Dubuque, Iowa. “The Board’s action to approve these principles is reflective of its desire to be actively engaged as further congressional consideration unfolds.”
“We intend to be leaders to help form a viable solution to mitigate any economic disruption that comes from another surge stemming from the coronavirus or separate pandemic,” said Council President/CEO Ken A. Crerar. “The Council is uniquely positioned to help advise on insurance-related aspects of any forward-looking federal solution, and we welcome that opportunity.”
The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers principles on a prospective federal pandemic program are as follows:
- The Council supports establishment of a federal forward-looking risk transfer solution to address future pandemic scenarios like COVID-19. If or when another global pandemic of this magnitude occurs, we strongly favor having a program already in place with no new enactment of law required.
- Several different models exist or have existed to address risk transfers and consumer protections in times of widespread losses and massive social and economic disruption, including the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (2002), National Flood Insurance Act (1968), Price-Anderson Act (1957), War Damage Insurance Act (1942), and the War Risk Insurance Act (1914).
- Any solution put in place to address future pandemics deserves careful study and stakeholder engagement, and should not be based on an assumption that any one model from the past is wholesale appropriate for, or transferable to, this very different set of risks and circumstances.
- The Council is uniquely positioned to help advise on insurance-related aspects of any forward-looking federal solution, and would welcome the opportunity to participate in those discussions as a policy is formulated.