April 2, 2020

Executive order requires 60-day grace period for policyholders unable to pay premiums due to COVID-19 pandemic

As part of Executive Order No. 7S, no insurer may lapse, terminate or otherwise cancel a covered insurance policy due to nonpayment of premium from April 1, 2020, through Monday June 1, 2020. The grace period applies to all entities licensed or regulated by the Connecticut Insurance Department—including admitted and nonadmitted companies. It also applies to policyholders unable to pay the interest or indebtedness on a premium. It applies to any insurance coverage in Connecticut, including life, health, auto, property and casualty.

Insurers must provide a 60-day grace period to insureds with individual insurance policies who have been laid off, furloughed, or fired from employment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This extends to individuals who have sustained a significant loss in revenue. The insurer may require individuals to provide affidavits or other statements asserting that they need the grace period due to lost income because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Insurers must provide a 60-day grace period to businesses that are group policyholders; have group insurance; and/or have property/casualty insurance that were required to close, to significantly reduce operations, or suffered significant revenue loss because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The insurer may require businesses to provide affidavits or other statements confirming that they were required to close or significantly reduce their business operations or suffered a significant revenue loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The grace period is not automatic. Policyholders must provide information regarding their COVID-19-related loss in revenue or income to insurers. Insurance carriers will be required to provide instructions on how policyholders should provide such information. The grace period only applies to cancellations or nonrenewals due to the failure to pay premiums during the 60-day grace period; cancellations or nonrenewals pursuant for other legally recognized reasons still permitted.

This is not a waiver of payment or forgiveness program. Policyholders still will be required to pay the premium at a later date. Carriers that already have provided a policyholder with a 60-day grace period for March 2020 and April 2020 premiums will be deemed to have satisfied these requirements.