Insurers have confirmed that pledges to support people working from home due to coronavirus and motorists whose habits have also changed because of the pandemic will last until at least the end of this year.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said the extra support already in place, which was due to expire at the end of October, has been extended until December 31 2020.
The ABI said this could be of significant help to many of the UK’s 17 million home insurance policyholders and 27 million motor insurance customers.
Under the temporary support measures, if someone is an office-based worker who is working from home because of the pandemic, their home insurance will not be affected. They do not need to contact their insurer to update their documents or extend their cover.
And if someone has to drive to and from their workplace because of the impact of Covid-19, their insurance policy will not be affected, the ABI said.
Also, if someone is using their own car for voluntary purposes to transport medicines or groceries to support others who are impacted by Covid-19, their cover will not be affected.
This applies to all categories of NHS volunteer responders, including transporting patients, equipment, or other essential supplies.
If someone’s work is critical to the national response to Covid-19 and they need to use their own car to drive to different locations for work purposes because of the impact of coronavirus, their cover will also not be affected.
The temporary pledges remain under review, and the next review of home and motor insurance will take place before December 31.
The ABI said that if policyholders have longer-term changes in their working-at-home or driving patterns that will continue into the next 12 months and they are renewing their insurance policy, they should discuss these changes with their insurer.
Laura Hughes, the ABI’s manager, general insurance, said: “The extension of these temporary pledges underlines the commitment of insurers to helping customers through these continued challenging times.”
YesAuto/PA media
Keyword: Coronavirus support measures for insurance customers extended until December 31