Australia-based QBE Insurance has decided to shut its UK offices in order to stress-test its business continuity plan in response to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

The offices have been scheduled to close on 18th March for 24 hours and employees are expected to work from home.

The closures will include regional offices and QBE’s European operations headquarters in London, UK.

QBE said that a large portion of its employees already works remotely, who will retest their personal circumstances and continue their daily activities.

The insurer does not expect any interruptions while conducting business remotely as part of the test.

Moreover, QBE is advising customers to attend scheduled meetings online.

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As part of the test, no visitors will be allowed to enter the UK offices.

Apart from QBE, Lloyd’s of London also recently shuttered underwriting floors for the first time in history.

Lloyd’s also shuttered its offices for 24 hours and conducted a deep clean of the underwriting room and all public areas at Lloyd’s building.

British insurance giant LV= paused the sale of new travel insurance due to the coronavirus outbreak.


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