Sealy: Insurance industry resilient amid COVID-19

While the insurance industry has been fraught with declining premium payments over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry has been “steady” throughout it, with no mass layoffs and no need to rightsize, Bahamas Insurance Association (BIA) Chairman Anton Sealy said yesterday.

Sealy, who was a guest on Guardian Radio’s ‘Morning Blend’ talk show to speak about Insurance Month, said last year was unlike any the industry had seen before, but he contended that insurance has proven to be one of the most resilient industries in the country.

“We’re not immune from the pandemic, but the insurance industry has been one of the most stable industries in the country for a long time,” Sealy said. 

“You don’t hear of mass layoffs like you hear in other financial sectors. We have been a stable industry, we have maintained our level of employment throughout the years and I don’t suspect that this pandemic will have any major impact in terms of downsizing or rightsizing.” 

According to Sealy, insurance companies have been working with their clients to ease the burden of their payments. He said the most important thing clients can do is to speak to their insurance companies about their financial situations.

“Early on in the pandemic, obviously a lot of people lost their jobs and had been furloughed, etc., so it has impacted our premium payments a great deal,” Sealy said.

“We have been working with our insureds to provide comfortable payment terms for premiums in most cases, so that has perhaps been the biggest impact and of course those who really can’t afford it or who can’t afford not to have insurance, they have opted to either drop the coverage or reduce the coverage to an affordable level.

“The insurance industry, prior to the pandemic, those who have come in and demonstrated the need for flexibility, the insurance companies have absolutely worked with the insureds to ensure that they have adequate coverage and coverage that they can afford.”

Sealy added that there is no foreseeable impact to health insurance coverage because of COVID-19, though he explained that moving forward, insurers and reinsurers will look at what extent they can cover the virus and there could be adjustments to policies.

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