AMTD PolicyPal The last few months have been incredibly challenging times due to the rapid spread of COVID-19. Businesses have been seriously impacted which has led to an unprecedented surge in unemployment, closures and a significant fall in earnings.
Resilience Package 2020
The Singapore government has also recently announced stricter lockdown measures and urged businesses to activate their business continuity plans. On 26 March 2020, the government also announced a huge S$55 billion dollar package to support businesses with rental payments and loans where needed.
Under the SG Together Enhancing Enterprise Resilience (STEER), the government will increase the match ratio to S$1 for every S$2 raised. Under the SMEs Go Digital Programme, the government will take further measures to encourage Singapore’s digital economy. Other grants that will have further financial stimulus are the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG) having increased support of up to 90%, while the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) will have increased support of up to 80%.
Source: Channel NewsAsia.
These measures will aid in releasing the necessary cash flow for enterprises to support their business in this time of need.
Business risk protection measures
In addition to the government measures, what are some actionable steps to take to protect your business from major disruptions? This article highlights how an in-depth analysis of current business risk protection measures will help protect against further business disruptions.
Make an inventory of risk pathways that could affect your business.
- Identify essential supply chains, raw materials or parts providers and service providers to assess the impact of potential disruptions.
- Identify potential sources of liability if your business were impacted by COVID-19.
- Identify other constituencies that might be affected by disruption to your business and risks associated with such disruption.
Before any disruption occurs, identify and review insurance products that are suitable.
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- First-party Property and Business Interruption insurance – for stoppage or slowdown of your own business, typically due to contamination of property (but usually not available for direct person-to-person transmission)
- Contingent Business Interruption (CBI) or Supply Chain Risk insurance – for disruption of supply chains and, potentially, markets
- Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance – for liability to third parties arising from bodily injury or, potentially, personal injury or property damage (including direct person-to-person transmission, as well as contamination of property)
- Directors & Officers (D&O), Management Liability, Errors & Omissions(E&O), and Professional Liability insurance – for claims that management personnel failed to take appropriate measures to protect the business or third parties (including direct person-to-person transmission, contamination of property, or secondary effects such as financial losses)
- Event Cancellation insurance (with extension for Communicable Disease)
- Workers’ Compensation insurance – adopt protocols and procedures to help employees make a record establishing work-relatedness in submitting claims
Review business contracts to assess whether you are obligated to provide coverage to customers/clients, joint venture partners, contractors or others for risks outlined above.
Review customer contracts to assess whether you are entitled to the coverage provided by customers/clients, joint venture partners, contractors or others for risks outlined above.
- If so, request copies of relevant insurance policies (not just certificates of insurance) and review them to assess potential coverage.
Ensuring the health and safety of your employees
In the event you or any of your employees are feeling unwell and are displaying symptoms of fever, cough and sore throat, you can find out the nearest clinics at your location from the website: https://www.flugowhere.gov.sg/.
If they are unwell, please remind your staff to wear a mask when they leave their home (for daily necessities) and to keep a safe distance away from others.
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