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16 April 2020 Covid-19 Jewellers Considering Insurance during Covid-19

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Dear Members

The Jewellery Council of SA is here to support you and your business through these unprecedented times and offer some guidance on various matters. As such, we have spoken to insurance companies to determine how they can assist you and provide some relief during Covid-19.

The first most important advice is that you should contact your broker to find out how you can renegotiate your insurance contract. Insurance companies are able to amend contracts to ensure that you only pay premiums for cover that is needed due to the changing environment and the fact that your trading conditions have changed.

Cover you needed before could be deleted/put on hold, thereby saving on your monthly premium payments and depending on a case by case basis in most instances  you will not be charged more when your broker asks to reinstate that cover post the lock down and trading conditions, returning back to your new normal.  You have to ensure that the implications in your specific case is understood if you choose to make these amendments to your contracts, thereby ensuring that your business is still properly covered.

Did you know that most insurance contracts do not offer cover in premises that are unoccupied for more than 30 days?  This is just one example of where your broker must ensure that your insurance company has agreed to waive this condition due to the unprecedented lockdown as a result of the current pandemic.

Insurance companies are not banks and can therefore not offer credit for outstanding or overdue premium payments, but can assist in workable solutions on a case by case basis to try and assist in ensuring the long term sustainability of your business, post the effects Covid-19 has on trading conditions.