Biba predicts more mid-term policy changes following PM’s Covid-19 lockdown update

Biba’s executive director Graeme Trudgill predicts that brokers will be involved in more mid-term policy changes following prime minister Boris Johnson’s pre-recorded Covid-19 update yesterday, which confirmed that construction workers should return to work if possible.

The trade association told Insurance Times that the call for construction staff and builders to return to work could impact brokers arranging liability insurance in this sector, especially as some tradespeople may have cancelled their policies in a bid to save money while out of work.

Biba added that brokers may now be involved in reinstating cancelled policies, making amendments where needed, or responding to new business enquiries as construction workers prepare to resume work.

Graeme Trudgill, Biba’s executive director, said: “There’s going to be a lot more adjustments now, as some things were mothballed and now they’re not going to be mothballed anymore, so there will be more mid-term changes going on as clients who had reduced their people working on a construction site or something are now perhaps upping that again.

“There’s going to be still lots of conversations between brokers and their clients as things continue to change. That’s what brokers are there for, to help meet clients’ needs and what we’ve seen throughout this process is they’re going to every length that they can to help people.”

Continued home working

Furthermore, Trudgill believes that brokers will continue working from home as this has proved successful so far, even for businesses that operate call centres.

He said: “[Johnson] basically said if you can work from home, work from home and brokers have proved that they can, and anyone knows in an office environment it’s very difficult to handle the social distancing and PPE and screens and everything else in place.

“So at the moment, what we’re hearing is that those brokers that can perhaps drive to their office, perhaps you have a very small staff in an office, but most staff are working from home still and we expect them to do so for the time being.

“The broking sector has been functioning, although in difficult circumstances, really well. It’s been astonishing just how well everyone has adapted so quickly to [home working].”