The past 2.5 weeks, our cities, province, country and world have gone from a casual “it’s just a flu” response to full on “lockdown.” It seems surreal that we have all been “sent to our rooms,” so to speak, to help the healthcare system from collapsing.
These seem like drastic measures, and it is (at the cost of our economy), but keeping our loved ones healthy and our health care workers safe, is always more important than money (at least that’s the standards that I was raised with). “As long as you have your health, you can always make more money.” That being said, it is important to keep mentally and physically healthy during this time of self-isolation.
During this time, some businesses NEED to continue so that we can continue to live. Grocery Stores, Trucking Companies, Fuel Stations, Hospitals, Paramedics, Care-workers, etc. all need to continue to work despite putting themselves in harms way. To them, we are extremely grateful for their relentless & exhausting efforts during this time. There are a lot of other non-essential businesses that have had to adapt to the new norm and figure out how to work without going to work. This requires working from home or creating a delivery based system to their customers.
At Block’s Agencies, we fortunately had remote access capabilities, into our brokerage software already in place. We created data security measures to keep our data private and secure, and gave our teams the ability to access our client data from anywhere; giving us the ability to still operate as if nothing had changed.
During this stressful time, the government has made it very clear that gatherings and public outings should be minimized at all cost. So we have locked our doors to “self-isolate” and are trying our best to help flatten the curve. However, truckers still need to truck, drivers still need to drive and despite the lockdown, the world hasn’t stopped. So what are we doing to help deliver our customers the same service behind locked doors. Here is some Q&A to help answer some of those concerns:
Q. I still need to renew my driver’s licenses and registrations. How can we do this?
A. By calling, texting or emailing one of our branches (contact info at the bottom of this page) or by utilizing the MySGI tool on our website. You can text us at 306-992-2606.
Our team has call-forwarding and our email accounts are set up to track and monitor your requests. We can handle (pretty much) every situation for SGI inquiries, and if we can’t, we will find the source to help you out and get you looked after. Currently, we are asking clients to come pick up the licenses, registrations and plates outside our door. We have a drop-off / pickup area for people to pick up their new plates or other documentation that they may need.
Q. What if I have an insurance claim? Is an adjuster still going to come out to investigate?
A. It depends on the claim. Not all claims require someone in attendance, however, in the event that a large fire, accident or other event were to occur, there would likely be someone to attend the scene to make sure everything was looked after and that everybody was safe.
Q. I bought a house. How can I get insurance on it?
A. If you call or email one of our branches or brokers, we can get you started remotely. We can set up a conference call or ZOOM conference to have a face-to-face meeting if that is what you would like. We have e-signature software set up and can handle all our applications and contracts via secure email.
Q. Is this COVID-19 pandemic covered on my business policy as a “business interruption?”
A. We would have to submit a claim request to your insurance provider to see if your policy wordings responded to this type of loss. However, based on the initial assessment of the insurance industry as a whole, it is rather unlikely as business interruption coverage responds when there is a direct loss from an insured peril (ie. fire or wind), then this coverage is triggered to that corresponding claim. Some wordings exclude pandemic, some are vague on the exclusion, so it is worth submitting the claim to see what the interpretation of your wordings will be.
Q. How long will your operations continue in this manner? When will things turn back to normal?
A. As you can imagine, our operations will be decided on the recommendations of the Chief Health Officers of Canada and Saskatchewan. When they recommend that we can continue business as “usual.” We will update you and let you know when our doors have reopened.
We are grateful for your patience as we continue to navigate through these unknown waters. Your business is very important to us and we appreciate your support. Our people and our communities are our main priority and we want to be here for you during this stressful and chaotic time. Thank you for your continued patronage. It does not go unnoticed.