More on Business Interruption Insurance

CONDITIONS AND CLAUSES OF POLICY

The following are some of the most typical extensions and clauses found in business interruption insurance:

a. Provision for Material Damage

This rule aims to ensure that a business interruption claim is only recorded if and only if it occurs at the time of harm.

• The loss was caused by a peril/contingency covered by the insured for property damage to the stated property.
• The relevant insurer (property damage insurance) has admitted liability under the Policy and agreed to pay the claim if it is owed to them.

If the claim for material damage is denied, the Business Interruption coverage will not be activated.

b. Access Denied Clause

This extension compensates the insured for any losses incurred due to the insured's inability to access the premises due to property damage. Smoke from a building fire, for example, may make it impossible for people to continue working.

Interruption can also be caused by damage to a property nearby rather than harm to the premises themselves. A fire at the Rwenzori Towers could force the closing of Nakasero Road, making entry to the Rwenzori Building difficult.

In other cases, mainly when dealing with retail stores, the influx of clients may be due to a neighboring prestige mall. For example, Acacia Mall on Acacia Avenue, where the mall's presence functions as a magnet to attract customers to the nearby shops. A loss of clients for the adjacent establishments could come from damage to the mall. The standard denial of access extension's coverage can be expanded to cover such losses. Denial of access-loss of attraction cover is the term for this.

Of course, the coverage offered by this extension is restricted to losses stemming from damage caused by an insured danger. Access denial resulting from inclement weather or civil disturbances (riots and civil commotions) is ideally avoided.

The interruption is limited to a specific time, such as 24 consecutive hours, to limit the insurer's liability.

If the disruption lasts shorter than 24 hours, the insurer will not compensate the insured.

c. Automatic Loss Reinstatement

If the insured agrees to pay an additional premium, the sums insured indicated at the policy start are not lowered by the amount of the claim unless the insured specifically requests it.

Consider a significant loss at the start of the insurance period and covered it before the Policy expires. The amount of settlement reduces the sum insured specified at the beginning of the Policy. If a second loss occurs, the already decreased total may not cover the second loss. As a result of this broad clause, the sum covered remains the same, but the insured is charged an additional premium prorated to the loss amount.

d. Clause on Salvage Sales

Suppose the insured holds a salvage sale during the indemnity period specified in the policy schedule. In that case, the salvage sale's turnover will be subtracted from the turnover during the indemnity period to determine the decrease in turnover.

A clause on Alternative Trading/Premises

This addition permits the insured to include revenue from sales of goods or services made on premises other than the insured premises due to the damage when calculating turnover during the indemnity term.

e. Clause of the Department

If the insured's business is divided into divisions, the gross profit and increased cost of working will be calculated separately for each department under this condition.

f. Professional Accountants Clause: This clause reimburses the insured for the additional costs required in employing professional accountants to verify the insured's accounts to investigate the claim payable under the Policy's Business interruption section.

On the other hand, the limit of responsibility should not exceed the Policy's restrict or limit a specific sum.

g. Standing Charges for the Uninsured

The increase in the cost of working considers the standing charges that were not decreased in proportion to the decrease in a turnover under this clause.

h. Extending the reach of customers and suppliers.

Some businesses may be impacted or exposed to interruptions due to damage to another company's property. Consider a supplier. Property damage at a supplier's location could disrupt the supply of critical materials to the insured's location, resulting in a business interruption. Consider the case of Hot Loaf Bakery. Sugar is an essential raw element in the manufacturing of bread. Assuming Kakira Sugar is the primary sugar supplier. Damage to Kakira Sugar's premises would impact Hot Loaf's operations because one of their critical raw materials would be unavailable. According to the material damage provision, hot bread can only claim for the interruption under their BI insurance if they have an insurable interest in the property of Kakira Sugar Works.

As a result, claims covered by the Supplies extensions policy can be covered by the BI cover.

The customer's extensions are similar to the supplier's extensions. If there is damage at the customer's facilities, the insured may lose the customer and suffer a business disruption.

The extension of consumers and suppliers is subject to a monetary restriction or a percentage agreement. For both wings, the insured must list the customers and suppliers whose operations would cause the insured's activities to be disrupted in the schedule.

• Payment Account Clause
• Premium Adjustment Clause
• Fines and Penalties
• Public Utilities
• New Business Clause
• Uninsured Standing Charges Clause is some of the other clauses and extensions that apply to this section.

EXCLUSIONS

The indemnity given under the Policy's business interruption section does not cover damage resulting from:

a. Any limitations or regulations imposed by a public authority;

b. Loss of Business owing to causes such as license suspension or cancellation;

c. The deductible is indicated in the schedule.

SUMMARY ON BUSINESS INTERRUPTION

Insurance compensates the insured for gross profit and related costs arising from a business interruption caused by property damage caused by an insured danger.

Loss of earnings for a business can be estimated using two methods: Loss of Turnover Basis or Gross Revenue Basis.

The business interruption coverage is based on the risks covered by the material damage policy. The dangers can be divided into two categories:

Named Dangers

All Perils and Risks

The insurance amounts are calculated based on gross profit and annual turnover.

The total revenue owed to the business for goods sold/and delivered and service rendered during the business's operations on the premises is known as turnover. Variable costs, Standing Charges, and Net Profit are the three components from which turnover can be calculated.

The total turnover, including amounts for closing stock and work in progress, more negligible amounts for opening store and work in progress + uninsured working expenditures, equals gross profit.

In a business interruption policy, the Indemnity Period is the period it will take for the business to resume operations after a loss has occurred.

The following are some of the factors that influence the duration of the indemnity period:

Availability of Alternative Premises: Nature/Type of Business

Seasonality and the pace with which damaged properties are repaired

In the event of a business disruption, there are various bases for indemnity. The indemnifiable amount is calculated from (a) Gross Profit and (b) Increased Cost of Working. b. Gross Revenue Basis: The indemnifiable amount is computed from (a) Gross Revenue Loss and (b) Increased Cost of Working.

Like any other policy, an excess indicates the portion of the insured's claim. The quantity is characterized in terms of time, such as days, weeks, or months, and is referred to as a time excess in Business Interruption.

Increased working costs, wages, auditor's fees, and so on can all be included in the sums insured. Denial of access, salvage sales, and alternative trading are all examples of business interruption policy extensions.

The Policy does not cover losses resulting from:

a. Any limitations or reconstructions imposed by a public authority;

b. Loss of Business owing to causes such as license suspension or cancellation;

c. The deductible state in the schedule.

d. Department Clause

e. Extensions for Customers and Suppliers

f. Certified Public Accountants Subclause

Contingent business interruption coverage gives coverage to insureds for business interruption losses resulting from insured physical damage at a third party's premises.