Business Interruption Insurance Coverage Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6494 To make available insurance coverage for business interruption losses due to viral pandemics, forced closures of businesses, mandatory evacuations, and public safety power shut-offs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 14, 2020 Mr. THOMPSON of California (for himself, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. MCNER- NEY, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. COX of California, Mr. GARAMENDI, and Mr. SOTO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To make available insurance coverage for business interrup- tion losses due to viral pandemics, forced closures of businesses, mandatory evacuations, and public safety power shut-offs, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Business Interruption 4 Insurance Coverage Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Apr 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6494.IH H6494 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6494 IH SEC. 2. BUSINESS INTERRUPTION COVERAGE REQUIRE- 1 MENTS. 2 Effective upon the date of the enactment of this Act, 3 each insurer that offers or makes available business inter- 4 ruption insurance coverage— 5 (1) shall make available, in all of its policies 6 providing business interruption insurance, coverage 7 for losses resulting from— 8 (A) any viral pandemic; 9 (B) any forced closure of businesses, or 10 mandatory evacuation, by law or order of any 11 government or governmental officer or agency, 12 including the Federal Government and State 13 and local governments; or 14 (C) any power shut-off conducted for pub- 15 lic safety purposes; and 16 (2) shall make available business interruption 17 insurance coverage for losses specified in paragraph 18 (1) that does not differ materially from the terms, 19 amounts, and other coverage limitations applicable 20 to losses arising from events other than those speci- 21 fied in paragraph (1). 22 SEC. 3. PREEMPTION AND NULLIFICATION OF PRE-EXIST- 23 ING EXCLUSIONS. 24 (a) GENERAL NULLIFICATION.—Any exclusion in a 25 contract for business interruption insurance that is in 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Apr 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6494.IH H6494 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6494 IH force on the date of the enactment of this Act shall be 1 void to the extent that it excludes losses specified in sec- 2 tion 2(1). 3 (b) GENERAL PREEMPTION.—Any State approval of 4 any exclusion of losses from a contract for business inter- 5 ruption insurance that is in force on the date of the enact- 6 ment of this Act shall be void to the extent that it excludes 7 losses specified in section 2(1). 8 (c) REINSTATEMENT OF EXCLUSIONS.—Notwith- 9 standing subsections (a) and (b) or any provision of State 10 law, an insurer may reinstate a preexisting provision in 11 a contract for business interruption insurance that is in 12 force on the date of the enactment of this Act and that 13 excludes coverage for losses specified in section 2(1) 14 only— 15 (1) if the insurer has received a written state- 16 ment from the insured that affirmatively authorizes 17 such reinstatement; or 18 (2) if— 19 (A) the insured fails to pay any increased 20 premium charged by the insurer for providing 21 such business interruption coverage; and 22 (B) the insurer provided notice, at least 30 23 days before any such reinstatement, of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Apr 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6494.IH H6494 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6494 IH (i) the increased premium for such 1 business interruption coverage; and 2 (ii) the rights of the insured with re- 3 spect to such coverage, including any date 4 upon which the exclusion would be rein- 5 stated if no payment is received. 6 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 7 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions 8 shall apply: 9 (1) BUSINESS INTERRUPTION INSURANCE COV- 10 ERAGE.—The term ‘‘business interruption insurance 11 coverage’’ means property and casualty insurance 12 coverage provided or made available for losses result- 13 ing from periods of suspended business operations, 14 whether provided under broader coverage or sepa- 15 rately. 16 (2) INSURER.—The term ‘‘insurer’’ has the 17 meaning given such term in section 102 of the Ter- 18 rorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 6701 19 note). 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Apr 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6494.IH H6494 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS