We are closely monitoring the Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation in the states that we write policies in. For our crop hail and/or personal lines policyholders we will, where applicable, be flexible with premium payments, waive late fees, extend grace periods, and cease cancellations and non-renewals during the COVID-19 emergency period. Each state may have different rules/requests so individual situations will be manually reviewed and handled accordingly.
We're committed to maintaining a safe work environment for the health and well-being of our employees and to sustain business operations.
As your business partner, we understand the importance of limiting the effects of this outbreak to maintain quality customer service. FMH is continuously monitoring the situation and adjusting policies and practices as needed to respond to the virus and protect our employees, agency partners, customers, and vendors while continuing to serve the needs of our customers.
We’ve been closely monitoring CDC and Iowa Department of Health guidelines and have updated our policies to comply with current recommendations including the following:
- Over 95% of our office employees are working from home.
- Anyone working in the office is adhering to social distancing and other health guidelines.
- The Home Office and Story City Offices are closed to all non-essential employees, visitors, or vendors, as well as the front lobby. Calls to reception are being redirected.
- All non-essential business travel has been canceled. Meetings and events have been canceled or postponed until further notice and are being conducted via conference calls or virtually, where possible.
- Employees who have recently traveled are self-quarantined at home for 14-days upon their return home, as is anyone who feels they have been directly exposed to someone who is diagnosed with COVID-19, or if they or a family member have been diagnosed with the virus.
- Employees are asked to self-report any exposure or diagnosis so the necessary steps can be taken.
Although we quickly moved our office staff into a work from home arrangement, we did so very effectively, with minimal disruption to our customers. Our employees have risen to the challenging conditions and continue to take calls and process business.
We continue to provide regular updates to our employees, as well as publish resources from the CDC website. Conditions are changing daily across the country and are being evaluated by our executive team so that we can update our policies as needed to comply with recommendations and maintain the health and well-being of our employees, customers, and vendors.
For more information on COVID-19, visit the Centers for Disease Control website.
Note: Based on President Trump's announcement to extend the nationwide social distancing guidelines through April 30th, FMH will continue to have office employees work from home if they are able to do so.