Executives shift from growing book of business to client triage

The west coast of Florida regional office for Cbiz, a financial services and benefits and insurance company, was having a stellar year — up until the coronavirus pandemic. “The economy was going fantastic, and then it was like the ripcord was pulled out,” Florida West Coast Cbiz President Keith Mercier says, echoing the thoughts of many other executives and entrepreneurs.

The flipside is Cbiz, in the first month of the pandemic at least, is busier than ever — not in closing deals or adding clients but in a form of insurance triage. “We are getting a ton of questions, and sometimes the answer is we don’t know,” Executive Vice President Patrick Wright says. “It’s like the Wild West out there right now.”

One of the main issues up on the air is business interruption insurance. Although nearly every business has been interrupted in some way due to the impact of COVID-19, interruption insurance traditionally covers total shutdowns caused by a natural disasters. Mercier says he will file business interruption insurance for clients but believes, short of state legislation changes, it’s a long shot for many policyholders.