Volatile weather patterns spur renewed interest in insurance to protect corporate revenues from unseasonable conditions

PHILADELPHIA, June 23, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With its roots in the UK, specialist insurer Beazley (BEZ.L) is familiar with depressing weather. But the company has been finding that US businesses are just as receptive to insurance coverage that protects revenues against unseasonably dreary conditions which keep customers at home.

"The polar vortex was a wake-up call for many American businesses," said Beazley underwriter Christian Phillips. "The fact that the US economy as a whole shrank in the first quarter underscores how tough the period was for those businesses with revenues directly exposed to poor weather."

Beazley's Weather Guard admitted insurance products, distributed exclusively in the US through WKFC Underwriting Managers, are designed to protect businesses from weather that may cause no physical damage to buildings but which can deal a body blow to revenues.

"Weather Guard is one of the most versatile and undersold forms of insurance," said Christine Ingraham, vice president of contingency underwriting for WKFC. "A wide variety of U.S. businesses – from golf courses to zoos – are vulnerable to shortfalls in revenue or increased costs due to adverse weather. Weather Guard allows a tailored approach to just about any risk in the marketplace, almost infinitely customizable.

"In addition to business income stabilization and cost containment, it can also be used to support weather-related sales promotions.  Jewellers and car dealerships among other businesses have tapped Weather Guard in order to win market share by holding seasonal promotions during peak sales at Christmas or Valentine's Day."