{"id":92022,"date":"2020-04-23T12:02:30","date_gmt":"2020-04-23T16:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=92022"},"modified":"2020-04-23T14:05:33","modified_gmt":"2020-04-23T18:05:33","slug":"church-times-it-would-not-be-viable-for-us-to-cover-virus-outbreaks-says-ecclesiastical-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=92022","title":{"rendered":"(Church Times) It would not be viable for us to cover virus outbreaks, says Ecclesiastical Insurance"},"content":{"rendered":"

A PCC<\/a> treasurer has been told by Ecclesiastical Insurance that its policies do not cover the coronavirus<\/a> pandemic.<\/p>\n

Mary Woolley, a parochial church councillor for the 13th-century Grade II* listed St Mary the Virgin, Lynton, in Devon, tried to make a claim under the business interruption clause, covering loss of earnings<\/a> and closure<\/a> owing to disease. But, when she contacted the insurer, she was turned down.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said: \u2018No chance on either count. Sorry, but there you go.\u2019 That hit a nerve,\u201d she said. \u201cEcclesiastical is in a slightly funny position in that it is owned by the Allchurches Trust, which gives money to charity \u2014 and we are a charity. It has strong links with the Church of England. Their reaction wasn\u2019t: \u2018We can feel your pain.\u2019 It was, rather: \u2018We couldn\u2019t possibly help our churches in that way: we wouldn\u2019t be able to afford it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

One third of her church\u2019s income is raised through service collections and donations from tourists. \u201cThere are two sections in the policy covering lost earnings,\u201d she said. \u201cOne was closure by public decree, which seemed to be pretty clear, but the answer was: \u2018Ah, yes, but not for disease.\u2019 The other was disease. There is a long and absolutely hilarious list of things for which we would be covered if we closed the church, such as leprosy and smallpox, but, unfortunately for us, Covid-19 wasn\u2019t invented when the list was created.<\/p>\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

It would not be viable for us to cover virus outbreaks, says Ecclesiastical Insurance https:\/\/t.co\/ztujfXfdRE<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Church Times (@ChurchTimes) April 23, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n