This Week’s PLRB Claims Conference Cancelled Due to Concern Over Coronavirus

A major insurance claims industry conference scheduled to start Sunday, March 8 has been cancelled due to events related to the coronavirus. The event was scheduled for the Gaylord National Hotel in National Harbor, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C.

The Property Liability Research Bureau (PLRB) called off its 2020 Claims Conference on Saturday at 10 p.m., the night before registration was to begin, after the American Conservative Union reported on Saturday that an attendee at its recent Conservative Political Action Conference at the hotel had tested positive for the virus. The group said the person was exposed to the virus before the event, which was also attended by President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

PLRB told its conference registrants, speakers and sponsors:

“In view of breaking local news involving someone who tested positive for coronavirus having been at the National Harbor Gaylord facility in the last week, in an abundance of caution, PLRB has decided to cancel the 2020 Claims Conference.”

The conference was to run through March 11 with a full agenda of educational sessions, trade show and networking events. PLRB promised more detail would follow.

The White House has said that President Trump, Vice President Pence and others from the Administration who were at the conference were not exposed to the individual who tested positive.

The PLRB move followed last week’s decision by Verisk to convert its Cyber and Casualty Seminar scheduled for March 10 in New York City from an in-person to a free virtual event “out of an abundance of caution over the global spread of the novel coronavirus.

Other insurance conferences, however, report they are monitoring the coronavirus situation and still planning to hold their events as scheduled.

Related:

• Handshakes, Buffets Out. Otherwise It’s Insurance Conferences-as-Usual Amid Coronavirus.
• Coronavirus Hits Trade Fairs, Industry Conferences