State’s COVID-19 Metrics Continue to Improve
By Jerry Nowicki
Capitol News Illinois
jnowicki @ capitolnewsillinois.com

Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Insurance are calling on insurers to expedite claims and payments to businesses hit by looters in recent days.
“It is my expectation and the expectation of the Illinois Department of Insurance that insurance companies will do everything in their power to give their customers the resources they need to rebuild and get back on their feet as soon as possible,” Pritzker said. “To that end, my administration has been in consultation with major insurance companies on the quick and robust support they should provide Illinois business owners who have experienced property damage, including but not limited to riots, vandalism and looting.”
Pritzker made the announcement at a Chicago news conference Monday, where he was joined by Robert Muriel, director of the Department of Insurance.
IDOI released the Company Bulletin — a tool aimed at providing “timely, relevant, and helpful guidance” to insurance companies — requesting that insurers take specific measures to help businesses rebuild.
Per a news release from the governor’s office, insurers should “apply claims best practices consistent with the categorization of this event as a catastrophic event.” They should also expedite claims handling, and advance claim payments. Another expectation is “fair treatment of all policyholders, regardless of size.”
Insurers should also implement a moratorium on cancellations or non-renewal of impacted policyholders for 60 days and should “err on the side of the policyholder” when paying claims as a result of “riots, civil commotion, or vandalism” even if the policyholder was unable to make full premium payments during the period following the governor’s stay-at-home order.
Pritzker said as the regulators of insurers, the state has the ability to “write them up” during their licensing processes and processes of review. Muriel also said the department can levy fines and suspend licenses.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.