Updated April 8, 2020 COVID-19
We are here for you
Frequently Asked Questions
Services
Â
Are you still open?
Yes. We are focused on the well-being and safety of employees, while remaining open for business during the COVID-19 crisis. About 98% of our employees are now working from home and we want to reassure you that they are mobilized to continue to support customers and brokers. At this time, we will not be accepting walk-ins and we encourage customers to give us a call or to log into Client Centre.
We will continue to update this page with any new information.
Â
Safety measures
Â
How are you protecting customers and employees?
We will take every step necessary to protect employees, customers and brokers while ensuring that we remain open for business.
The decisions we are taking will continue to be guided by public health authorities in Canada and the United States.
About 98% of our employees in Canada and the United States are now working from home.
We have strong precautions in place to ensure the safety of the small number of individuals who are still in the office to issue claim payments and policy renewals, as well as at our auto service centres to assist customers who have been in an accident..
We have a dedicated team monitoring this rapidly changing situation closely and will continue to update our response as necessary.
Â
Where can I find up to date information on COVID-19?
Our business continues to operate with additional precautions. If there are any changes, we’ll tell you about it here.
For the latest information on the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, visit the dedicated Health Canada website and in the United States, visit the dedicated CDC website.Â
Â
Financial relief measures
Â
COVID 19 is causing me and my business to experience financial challenges – what can I do?
We understand this is a difficult time for individuals, families and businesses. Our priority is to be there for customers and brokers when they need us.
As the situation with COVID-19 continues to evolve, we are moving quickly to support customers and taking a problem-solving approach as we work through these situations on a case-by-case basis.
We are focused on supporting individuals and businesses who have been significantly impacted by COVID-19; including people who are ill, elderly or who have experienced job loss.
We encourage customers who are experiencing financial hardships to reach out through their broker or Intact Insurance to discuss the following relief measures:
- Waiving of missed payment fees
- Payment deferrals
- Premium adjustments for those who are ill or have lost their jobs to reflect changes in personal and commercial automobile usage including temporary kilometre reductions and temporary storage of vehicles
- Providing flexibility for those who are using their cars and homes during the crisis for different purposes like making deliveries and running a business from home
- Premium adjustments for small and medium-sized business customers that are now closed or have been severely impacted from a sales receipts and payroll perspective
These measures will be in place until the end of April and will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.
Â
What is Intact doing to help small businesses most affected by mandated shutdowns and public health restrictions due to wave two of COVID-19?
Intact is providing $50 million of immediate relief to more than 100,000 to small business customers through its Small Business Relief Program.
Intact carefully considered the types of small businesses most affected by mandated shutdowns and public health restrictions due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and will be sending these small business customers a cheque equivalent to 20% of their annual premium.Â
Â
How do I know if I will receive a cheque or not?Â
If you haven’t received a cheque by December 1, and are not sure if you are eligible, please contact your broker.
What other support is available for business customers?Â
The Intact Small Business Relief Program is in addition to the ongoing support available since March. Even if customers have not yet reached out, with one call to their broker, impacted customers can access support now – even before their policy comes up for renewal.
Small and medium-sized business customers who’ve closed due to mandated shutdowns or have been severely impacted by reduced payrolls or revenues can contact their broker to request immediate payment flexibility options and premium adjustments.
Claims
Â
What should I do if I get into an accident and need to file a claim?
Our claims teams are mobilized and ready to help you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.Â
To ensure the most efficient service, we would like to remind you that the most effective way to report a claim is online or over the phone. You can call our claims team at: 1-866-464-2424
Each claim is unique. Please follow the policy’s directions for submitting a claim and our claims team will provide the necessary support to guide you through the process.
Online claims services
You can now submit commercial property and commercial vehicle claims online.
A claims representative will open your file and contact you within one business day.
Â
To learn more about all measures put in place by Intact Insurance please click here.
Prevention: resources and information
What is an emergency response plan, and how do I adapt my emergency plan to COVID-19?
Emergency response or contingency plans are key to reducing your exposure to a liability or property claim during a pandemic. If you have an emergency response plan and a business continuity plan, there may be simple changes you can make to reflect recommendations on how your business can respond to COVID-19.   
We recommend that you review two specific sections of your emergency plan: your company’s approach to cybersecurity and the steps you have in place to protect your property.   
If you don’t already have a plan in place, here are some resources you can consult for guidance:  
Business continuity planning templates from the Business Development Bank of Canada   
Emergency response planning guidelines from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety   
In general, a strong emergency response plan will  
Identify and analyze possible exposures to risk, including how a pandemic or any other major adverse situation could impact your business (by suspending the operations of critical suppliers or limiting the ability of key customers to make payments).   
Document a response procedure to manage these risks that reflects international, national and regional standards.  
 Please consult our Loss Prevention Safety Tips page on Contingency Planning for more information. 
Idle property
Â
How can I make sure my business property is protected?
Facilities that become temporarily unattended or overpopulated due to quarantine are at increased risk for such things as water damage. Changes to property occupancy can also increase risk. If your business is storing a larger amount of alcohol-based sanitary products than usual, for example, your property may be at a higher risk for fire. You should review your emergency plan with this information in mind.  
If you must stop work at your place of business, take the following steps to protect your property:  
First, inform your insurance broker of the situation. Your broker can provide guidelines in order to safeguard your property (for more information, see our safety tips on theft, vacant and idle properties).  
Consult a specialist before shutting down production or support equipment to make sure that the proper steps are taken.  
Continue preventive maintenance activities for your building and its components according to schedule. If access to your facility is restricted, only continue urgent repairs.  
Ensure mechanical components, such as elevators, receive essential servicing by monitoring them remotely or conducting periodic on-site assessments. This will help reduce the possibility of a loss of essential equipment following a prolonged period of inactivity.   
Monitor fire protection and burglary alarm notification systems. If these systems are not available, you may want to consider periodic on-site assessments.   
Inform your business partners and clients of your decisions.  
 Please consult our Loss Prevention Safety Tips page on Theft Protection and Vacant and Idle Properties for more information. 
Â
How can I prevent cargo losses?
The pandemic has disrupted the global supply chain. As a result, is has created a situation where cargo is being stored for long periods of time in unattended or improvised storage areas and increasing the likelihood of theft or vandalism.
To help you mitigate losses, we recommend the following control measures:
- Ensure the storage yard is fully secured using chain link fence and adequate lightning. Â
- Monitor site access at all times.
- Establish and implement a policy requiring permission for vehicle to leave the site.
- Limit access to the shipping paperwork.
Please consult our Loss Prevention Safety Tips page on Preventing cargo losses for more information. 
Cybersecurity
Â
How can I protect my business and my employees working from home?
Because of the COVID-19, many businesses have employees working from home – some for the first time. Here are some tips to ensure that your business operations remain secure while your team works remotely.  
Keep up-to-date contact information (including personal and professional phone numbers and emails) for staff, partners, suppliers and the IT team responsible for your online properties.  
Identify the essential operations and services you want to keep running. For example, if you offer an online consulting service, what would you need to maintain a certain level of service with your team working from home? Consider key employees, computer and internet connectivity, phone lines, software, database accessibility, etc.  
For employees who work from home, assess their access needs on a case-by-case basis:  
Work with your IT professionals to secure who can access your network and encrypt confidential information  
Ask your employees to avoid working from unsecured public networks or enable a VPN option for remote network connection to avoid man-in-the-middle attacks  
Enforce a strong password policy and set an automatic inactivity logout   
Ensure endpoint protection for all devices (by installing firewalls, antivirus and security information, and event management (SIEM) software, and disabling USB ports, etc.)  
Provide cybersecurity training to all personnel and reinforce best practices often  
Back up data daily and create a physical backup if the information needs to be quickly retrieved and restored.  
Key employees should bring their laptops home when they leave the office to ensure critical operations continue. Remind employees that they should not leave these laptops or other company material in the car or anywhere else that would increase the risk of theft.   
Ensure confidential data and intellectual property are adequately protected by different layers of security—this is not the time for a data breach.  
 Please consult our Loss Prevention Safety Tips page on Data breaches during a pandemic and Privacy breaches for more information. 
Â
What is phishing and how can I prevent it?
You should also remind your employees to be aware of phishing or fraudulent attempts to gain personal information by phone or email. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Do not click on any suspicious email attachments or give information to anyone. Common phishing emails often:  
Evoke a sense of urgency to act now  
Ask for sensitive information  
Request that you click on a link  
Come in the form of unexpected emails   
Include multiple people on the sender list   
Contain grammatical errors  
Have an uncommon file type or include suspicious attachments   
Employees working from home should also be wary of unsolicited calls. If they didn’t initiate the call, they shouldn’t provide or confirm any information, including business addresses or phone numbers, account numbers, or any information about equipment in the office (such as the make or model of the printer, laptop, etc.).  
If you’d like more information, check out the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and Get Cyber Safe.  
Construction
Â
How can I minimize the risk of a loss when a construction site is idle?
When work on a site stops or activities are reduced, the risk increases. Certain measures can be taken to reduce these risks significantly.   
The duration of the interruption, nature, and size of the site can influence measures to be taken. In each case, apply the risk control measures depending on the site in question. The following risks are to be considered while preparing your site and equipment for a prolonged interruption:  
Theft of tools, materials, equipment 
Unauthorized access to the site, and related liability exposures 
Fire and arson 
  Please consult our Loss Prevention Safety Tips page on Idle Construction Sites for more information. 
Message from our CEO
These are unprecedented and challenging times for people, businesses and communities in Canada, the United States and the rest of the world.
Dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic is our number one priority. We are working around the clock to remain as responsive as possible. Our focus is on the well-being of our employees and to be there for you -- our customers and brokers -- when you need us.Â
Insurance is an essential service. We play an important role, along with our broker and supply chain partners, in helping to protect people and businesses from the impacts of accidents, natural disasters and catastrophes. Beyond that, our services enable the delivery and trade of essential goods – including to grocery stores, pharmacies and healthcare providers.
The decisions we are taking will continue to be guided by public health authorities in Canada and the United States.
More than 98% of our employees across North America are now working from home and we have a strong business continuity plan in place. We will take every step necessary to protect employees, customers and brokers, while ensuring that we remain open for business.
We are continuously reviewing the impact of the pandemic and we will take a problem-solving approach as we work through new situations and deal with the questions that may come our way.
We are working around the clock to support people and businesses facing financial challenges as a result of the pandemic. That is why we moved quickly to provide flexible relief measures, including waiving of missed payment fees, payment deferrals and premium adjustments and are working with customers and brokers on a case by case basis to help. We are focused on the most vulnerable – those who are ill, elderly and those who have experienced job loss due to the impacts of COVID-19.
We have also committed more than $2 million to target the immediate needs of individuals and families who are most vulnerable to the social, health and economic effects of this pandemic and to ensure that resources are available to those in need.
Finally, we want to ensure the health and well-being of our employees. We are communicating regularly and keeping them apprised of the actions we are taking in response to the pandemic. I am grateful to all our employees who have shown tremendous dedication and flexibility during this unprecedented time.
While the financial markets are extremely volatile right now, our operations and capital position are strong. We are well-positioned to continue to serve our customers and brokers and support communities through this stressful period.
This is a difficult time for all but serves as a reminder of why Intact exists – to help people.
I am confident we will get through this by working together with our communities, and with governments and public health authorities.
We value these relationships and we are here to help. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out through one of the channels included below.
Charles Brindamour
Chief Executive Officer
Intact Financial CorporationÂ