ANYONE FOR BIRD FLU INSURANCE?

UP TO $50,000 A DAY PAYOUTS....WHILE YOU DROWN ON YOUR OWN MUCUS

That headline is not exactly accurate, but it was an inevitability that an insurance company, somewhere, would crunch the numbers and come up with a profit margin that made cashing in on the threat of an avian influenza pandemic worthwhile.

Small business and major corporations across Canada and the US are now examining what a bird flu pandemic would mean for their bottom line. The US government's pandemicflu.org site states that outbreaks during a pandemic could occur two or three times in a year, and last for six to eight weeks at a time, meaning that not only will offices and businesses be shut down, but staff will be told to stay home.

One World Health Organisation study put the costs of a worldwide pandemic at reaching towards $1 billion in losses to businesses.

From The Toronto Star : "A speciality insurance firm is set to launch a novel policy designed to pay up to $1.5 million to small business owners ordered to shut down because of the avian flu or another contagious outbreak.

"Payouts on the policy will range from $5,000 to $50,000 per day up to a maximum of 30 days, for a maximum total payout of $1.5 million.

"The cost of the premiums is being finalized...Payouts would be premises-specific...That means to qualify for coverage, a business would have to be specifically ordered to shut down by a public health official or another independent, third party (for quarantine reasons).

"For instance, if four people working in an office on the 57th floor of First Canadian Place turn out to have avian flu, and the office is closed and placed under quarantine, that business would be covered.

"More than 13,000 Toronto residents were placed under quarantine in 2003 because of potential exposure to two cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, known as SARS."