• State law allows notaries public to perform remote online notarization when a signer is unable to physically appear before a notary public.
• State law allows business and commerce to function when the need exists for a notarial certificate.
• Information about remote online notarization is available here.

North Dakota Insurance Department
Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread provided insurance updates:

• Bulletin 2020-4 – Asks auto insurers to expand coverage for people who are using their personal cars for new delivery jobs, so they are covered for that commercial activity.
• Business interruption policies were generally not designed or priced to provide coverage against communicable diseases, such as COVID-19, and therefore include exclusions for that risk. Insurance works well and remains affordable when a relatively small number of claims are spread across a broader group, and therefore, it is not typically well suited for a global pandemic where virtually every policyholder suffers significant losses at the same time for an extended period. While the U.S. insurance sector remains strong, if insurance companies are required to cover such claims, such an action would create substantial solvency risks for the sector, significantly undermine the ability of insurers to pay other types of claims and potentially exacerbate the negative financial and economic impacts the country is currently experiencing.
• The North Dakota Department of Insurance will continue to further discuss offering flexibility during this financial hardship with the insurance industry.

Bank of North Dakota
President of the Bank of North Dakota Eric Hardmeyer discussed banking-related topics:

• Student loan borrowers can defer their payments for six months. For more information and to apply for the deferment, they can visit bnd.nd.gov/covid.
• The Bank of North Dakota is working closely with financial institutions across the state to inform them about the federal programs and how they will impact their borrowers.

Unemployment Insurance
Executive Director Bryan Klipfel of Dakota Workforce Safety and Insurance and Job Service North Dakota provided updates on unemployment insurance:

• If your business declines, or you need to close, lay off staff or cut staff hours, your unemployment insurance account will not be charged for any benefits paid to employees you had to lay off. (In other words, individual base period employers accounts will be relieved of charges (i.e. no charge) on claims filed as a direct or indirect result of COVID-19.
• If you are a business owner and you pay into the unemployment insurance system, you can file a claim if you must shut down your business. The executive order temporarily eliminated income reduction requirements for business owners.
• Contract workers are not eligible to receive regular unemployment benefits. At this time, no other unemployment benefit program has been activated that would allow contract workers to receive benefits; however, these workers may be able to access financial support through the CARES Act.

Commerce has been working around the clock to track and interpret the legislation so it is prepared to help North Dakotans quickly apply the information to their own circumstances. The third COVID-19 ND Business Briefing call for next Thursday, April 2 “What You Need to Know About the CARES Act,” will include specific information in the CARES Act and important scenarios to illustrate how the Act can be applied to your specific business situations, as there is no one clear strategy. This call will be recorded for later access and posted, along with reference materials, on the employer page of NDResponse.gov.

Click here for more information and to register