Exceptions to the Isolation in Insurance Matters

On May 16, 2020, Administrative Decision 810/2020 issued by the President’s Chief of Staff Office was published in the Official Gazette. The decision expanded the list of the activities and services that are exempted from complying with the ‘social, preventive and mandatory isolation’ and the prohibition of movement decreed as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Administrative Decision was issued within the framework of the powers that articles 6 of Decree 297/2020 and 11 of Decree 459/2020 grant to the President’s Chief of Staff to expand or reduce the exemptions provided for by those articles.

One of the nationwide exempted activities established by article 2 of the Administrative Decision is that of the insurance activity carried out by insurance and reinsurance companies and intermediaries. This exemption is added to that of the experts and loss adjusters decreed by Administrative Decision 524/2020.

Administrative Decision 810/2020 establishes that those who benefit from this decision are only allowed to circulate to comply with the exempted activities or services and that, in all cases, the recommendations and instructions of the health authority must be complied with and health protocols must be incorporated. It also states that employers must guarantee the safety and health conditions established by the Argentine Ministry of Health to prevent the transmission of the virus among the employees. In addition, the decision establishes that the personnel must perform shift work, that the work mode and commuting must be adapted and that the exempted personnel must obtain circulation permits.

In this context, on May 21, 2020, Resolution 136/2020 issued by the Economic Development and Production Ministry of the City of Buenos Aires was published in the Official Gazette. This Resolution abrogated Resolution 113/2020 issued by the same Ministry -which had approved the protocol for experts and loss adjusters- and approved the ‘Protocol for the Insurance Activity Performed by Insurance and Reinsurance Companies and Intermediaries for the Prevention and Handling of Covid-19 Cases’.

In this regard, the Resolution states in its recitals that ‘…since it is necessary to regulate the conduct of the insurance activity, and considering that it includes the experts and loss adjusters’ activity, it is necessary to abrogate the protocol approved by Resolution 113/MDEPGC/2020 and approve a single protocol applicable to the whole insurance activity’.

The Protocol recommends some measures for the insurance and reinsurance companies and intermediaries to apply to their personnel -including officers- experts and loss adjusters, clients, and any other person that for any reason visits the offices. It also establishes that offices must be open to the public only by prior arrangement with the client and when it is necessary.

On the other hand, the Protocol recommends hygiene and prevention measures for the loss adjusters who carry out activities outside the offices. Also, the Protocol establishes specific rules for general and Capitalization and Savings brokers with a valid license.

Regarding the activity carried out by experts and loss adjusters, although the Protocol regulates how offices can be open to the public, it must be recalled that Administrative Decision 524/2020 states in article 1, section 8, that ‘In no case may their offices be open to the public and all procedures must be virtual, including payments’. Therefore, it seems that the Protocol differs from Administrative Decision 524/2020 and raises doubts about the actual scope of the local protocol in matters that are not expressly exempted by the Administrative Decision.

Another question is whether the experts and loss adjusters exception applies to claims of any kind of insurance coverage or to a specific one. This question does not arise from Administrative Decision 524/2020 itself, but from the platform that must be used to process the circulation permit.

In fact, although Administrative Decision 524/2020 does not refer to a specific insurance coverage, the website https://www.argentina.gob.ar/circular/dni#provincia where the exempted

personnel must obtain their circulation permit, only provides the option for ‘Insurance companies and loss adjustment services that allow payments for car and motorcycle repairs arising from traffic accidents’. It seems that this inconsistency only affects independent experts and loss adjusters who are not employees of insurance companies, since the latter must obtain their circulation permit by using the option ‘Insurance activity performed by insurance and reinsurance companies and intermediaries.’

In our opinion, there is no reason to make such a distinction, not only because Administrative Decision 524/2020 does not mention a specific kind of coverage, but also because it would be an arbitrary decision between independent and in-house experts and loss adjusters. Also, in this context it will be as important, or even more so, to pay claims related to commercial, surety, transport and life insurance policies, rather than only paying car and motorcycle repairs.

It is to be expected that the platform that process the applications for circulation permits will correct this, since it does not respond to the scope of the exception established by Administrative Decision 524/2020.