For Our NY Ministry Clients: Moratorium on Cancellations Extended until July 26th

Moratorium on Policy Cancellations Extended to July 26th. 

We hope you and your ministry are safe and finding creative ways to minister during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Please be sure to read this post in its entirety.

There has been another extension of the Executive Order issued by Gov. Cuomo for policy holders in New York.  This Executive Order states that in the state of New York, there is a moratorium on your insurance company cancelling your insurance policy, even if premiums are not paid.  This Executive Order was put in place to protect policyholders due to the financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and now extends until July 26, 2020.

The Executive Order has put all insurance companies on the same page and helped bring clarity and a definitive moratorium on cancellations for insurance policies.  This means that insurance companies will not be cancelling your policy during this time, regardless of whether you receive a cancellation notice or not.  If a policyholder does not make a timely premium payment and can demonstrate financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, your insurer may not impose any late fees relating to the premium payment or report you to a credit reporting agency or a debt collection agency regarding such premium payment.

The goal is to try to keep ministries protected as the pandemic has put a strain on ministries from various angles.  The Executive Order does not state that the insurance premiums are forgiven, but only that policyholders cannot be cancelled during this period even if they have not paid.  We understand that ministry budgets are being squeezed at this time and hope this can be a small help.

Catching up on Overdue Insurance Payments

Please note that we are encouraging ministry clients to pay insurance premiums due if they are able to do so at this time.  This is due to the fact that this moratorium is not forgiving or erasing premiums that would be due the insurance company.  Instead, it is allowing repayment in the future using a catch-up period over the next twelve months.

The regulations require your insurance company to permit you, as an affected policyholder, to pay the overdue premium over a 12-month period if you did not make a timely premium payment due to financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and can still demonstrate financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Next Steps

If you have already paid your insurance premium or are able to pay your insurance premium there is no further action required at this time.

If you are not able to pay your insurance premium at this time, please contact us for assistance.  If a ministry cannot pay premiums due to COVID-19 financial hardship, there is a simple process.  The Executive Order states that policyholders can just attest that they are having financial difficulties from the COVID-19 pandemic.  We are asking our ministry clients who are unable to pay to contact Emery & Webb and advise that they cannot pay their premium due to financial hardship from COVID-19.  Our team will simply ask for an email or other written notice attesting to the COVID-19 financial hardship.  We will keep this written attestation on file for the client and then also be able to communicate this information to their insurance company.

Our team is fully functioning, and we are here to help. 

All phone lines and email addresses are working so please reach out to us so that we can help!