Markerstudy Pledges

Partner Update - COVID-19

Good Afternoon,

In the face of adversity, the needs of our customers should come first, and we are fully in support of the ABI Motor Insurance pledges to help those who are affected either directly, or indirectly, by COVID-19.

We pledge to:

Support those who need to make a claim

• We have robust business continuity plans and will continue to do all that we can to minimise disruption and ensure our operation remains as unaffected as possible. Our standard working hours will remain 9am to 5pm, and our claims service continues to be 24/7, 365 days. We will prioritise getting our policyholders back on the road following a claim, and support those who are vulnerable or suffering financial hardship.

Support those who are working from home

• If our customers need to work from home due to illness, self-isolation or government advice we have provided alternative communication methods (including web chat and e-mail) to make communicating with us easier. Should they wish to alter their policy details – reducing the number of vehicles in a fleet, changing annual mileage, etc, they can do so quickly without reliance on a telephony solution.

Support those who cannot work from home

• If our customers need to use their vehicles more, due to the restrictions placed on public transport, but their existing policy does not include ‘commuting’, their insurance policy will be valid without having to amend ‘use’ class.

Support those who use their cars to help their communities

• If our customers need to use their own vehicles for voluntary purposes, supporting others who are impacted by COVID-19, their cover will not be affected and they do not need to tell us.

Support our key workers

• If our customers’ 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, their cover will not be affected and they do not need to tell us.

That’s not all…

Naturally, our response to support you and your customers is not limited to guidance from the FCA and ABI.  We are open to practical and realistic suggestions on any aspect of our products and service that will help.

With this in mind we can confirm:

• that we have already deployed solutions on selected specialist lines such as Taxi and Fleet, where the customer and broker impact has been immediate and acute;
• we’ll soon extend our flexible approach to other products to provide better alternatives than policy cancellation, such as continuation on a reduced cover basis;
• claimants who have been unable to complete vehicle MOT’s since 16 March due to social distancing measures will not be penalised as a result.

Look out for further updates via our Broker Hub and get in touch with the Broker Management team on brokermanagement@markerstudy.com, via your Broker Manager or our Underwriting team.  We’re here to help.

Thank you again for your ongoing support.  Keep safe and keep well.

Best regards

Anthony Foster

Head of Broker Management