ISO is responding to concerns about Ebola with the development of two new coverage endorsements designed to help businesses when the virus strikes.

Specifically, they’re structured to assist businesses when government officials step in to control the virus’s spread, and their operations are affected as a result. Insurers who chose to offer the endorsements in the admitted market will need to make the necessary regulatory filings on their own, ISO said.

ISO’s first endorsement would offer coverage when a business loses income after it is ordered to close during an Ebola outbreak. The second endorsement kicks in if the government suspends public transportation after an outbreak, including public bus, rail or ferry lines.

As ISO explains, both endorsements would complement its existing commercial property program and are subject to an annual aggregate. They’d also kick in when a government’s order to close disrupts the supply chain of that business.

Beth Fitzgerald, president of ISO Insurance Programs and Analytic Services, said in a statement that the optional endorsements are shaped to potentially help businesses financially if authorities order them to close after an Ebola outbreak.

ISO is a Verisk Analytics business.

Source: ISO