Sorry for another one-post blog email and a promotional one at that. I am feverishly working on my new book with the same title as this blog post. The book will be officially released on October 31, a fitting date for a COVID-19 book where you will learn whether the business income (and other) claim denials by insurers are tricks and whether the courts will reward policyholders with treats by reversing the denials.
However, while the official launch is October 31, the book is now available as a presale on Amazon at a discounted price:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HZ7JGRY
I am still working on the book and about a month from completing and uploading the final manuscript to Amazon. Below is some information, including the Amazon description and the working table of contents. As a disclaimer, this is only about the insurance implications in the U.S., not around the world.
Amazon Description:
THE Definitive and Conclusive Analysis of Why Insurance Doesn’t Cover Pandemics
This book by one of the industry’s foremost P&C insurance coverage experts explains why potentially trillions of dollars of COVID-19 business interruption losses should not, can not, and are not covered by insurance.
The book explains why pandemics are uninsurable while dispelling other industry misconceptions, from fundamental misunderstandings about how insurance works to the myth that “all risk” policies cover anything not excluded.
It also explores why policyholder lawsuits to date have been largely ineffective and offers recommendations to both plaintiff and defense attorneys as well as suggestions about insurer claims handling and why there is a right and a wrong way to offer coverage broadenings and premium rebates.
But the heart and soul of the book is the section based on the author’s 50+ year industry career detailing how common policy language responds to COVID-19 claims. The book includes comparison charts showing the evolution of standardized policy language for over 30 years and explains how a change in business income civil authority coverage almost 20 years ago both broadened and restricted that coverage.
Included in the coverage analysis is a definitive examination of recently debated issues such as what constitutes “direct physical” property damage or loss and an explanation of why almost everyone misunderstands how the civil authority coverage works and why. With regard to the “direct physical” issue, the author points out insurance contract language that few have considered as a basis for understanding and interpreting what this term means.
In addition to the in-depth business income coverage analysis, the book addresses a number of coverage complications that have arisen from the pandemic and provides an overview of the COVID-19 impact on other lines of coverage such as general liability, workers compensation, directors and officers insurance, and even personal lines. Also, with regard to errors and omissions exposures, insurance agents are cautioned as to why they may be the target of a second wave of litigation.
In addition to coverage issues, the book devotes a chapter to regulatory directives and legislative mandates, including an explanation of why a TRIA-like federal “PRIA” proposal is unlikely to work in the case of pandemics.
Finally, the book concludes with a chapter on lessons learned and an exploration of risk management approaches other than insurance that might be reasonable solutions to future pandemics.
Working Table of Contents
Gigantic Copyright and Disclaimer
Testimonials
Dedication and Acknowledgements
Table of Contents
Foreword
Preface
Forward Into the Past
- Introduction
- Why businesses close and don’t reopen
- Pandemics
- Catastrophes
- How insurance works
- Some risks are simply uninsurable
- Why the insurability issue is important
Insurance Misconceptions
- Introduction
- Insurance companies are incredibly profitable
- Insurers have huge reserves just sitting there
- Insurers can recover their losses in the future
- Insurance policies of the same type cover the same things
- Insurance policies exclude things in the “fine print”
- “All risks” policies cover anything not excluded
- Strengthening exclusions proves prior coverage existed
- Business income insurance covers loss of income
- Business income insurance is triggered by damage to “covered” property
- Business income coverage requires a complete suspension of operations
Litigation
- Introduction
- Tracking litigation
- General problems with policyholder lawsuits
- The very first case
- Decisions in favor of policyholders
- Decisions in favor of insurers
- Recommendations for policyholder attorneys
- Recommendations for defense attorneys
- Legal and contractual claim resolution principles
- Agent and insurer claims handling and resolution
Why Business Income Insurance Does Not Cover Pandemics
- Introduction
- Some policies DO (or might) provide coverage
- Commercial property business income insuring agreements
- Commercial property business income causes of loss
- Commercial property business income conditions
- Businessowners policy (BOP) programs
- What if there IS coverage?
Other Lines of Insurance
- Introduction
- Coverage complications
- Commercial general liability
- Workers compensation
- Directors and officers
- Errors and omissions
- Event cancellation
- Other commercial lines
- Personal lines
Governmental Issues
- Introduction
- Regulatory directives
- Legislative mandates
- A TRIA-like PRIA proposal
Forward Into the Future
- Introduction
- Lessons learned
- Risk management
A Bonus If You Got This Far….
Appendix
- Bibliography
- Court Case Citations (reference hyperlinks)
- Key word index (reference hyperlinks)
- About the Author
Bill Wilson
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Congratulations! So it will only be offered in Kindle format?
There’s no current plan for a print edition. It’s a much more labor intensive process to design, upload, and oversee a print edition. I’m old school, so I like paper, but the Kindle format has so many upsides.
For example, it’s searchable and I don’t have to create an index of key words for the appendix. You can attach notes and make bookmarks. You can copy and paste. You can carry a copy with your wherever you go on your phone, tablet or laptop.
Another thing is that I despise books where many of the pages have more text in footnotes than actually in the main part of the page. Or a chapter ends with pages and pages of endnotes, many references for which the reader has no access or has to type in internet URLs. With the ebook format, I can include all the hyperlinks I want.
Not having a print option will likely reduce sales by a third or so, but if the subject matter is interesting enough, perhaps it will drive people to embrace the digital platform.
I understand. I’m just on screen overload these days.
My iPad Air is like another appendage. And another advantage of the ebook format is that you can read a book in the dark. I don’t need a nightlight in bed to read. I’ve also set up the Kindle book so it can be shared with others on Amazon. I’m not exactly sure how that works, but it was an option I allowed.