Insurers and brokers are increasingly asking staff to work from home to counter the COVID-19 outbreak.

Among them is broker Marsh, which has confirmed “work from home arrangements” have been implemented for its major offices in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane this week.

HDI Global Australia employees will work from home for two weeks, and RACV Insurance told insuranceNEWS.com.au that it will “increase the amount of working from home where practicable”.

Other insurers and brokers have urged staff to work from home, with some also cutting all staff travel and banning internal and external meetings.

“Our offices will be open and functioning as usual, simply with fewer colleagues present,” a Marsh spokesman told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“This is a risk management decision to ensure we are doing everything we can to protect the wellbeing of our colleagues and the clients we interact with on a daily basis,” he said.

“Our business is well set up for agile working and we expect no disruption to the service of our clients.”

RACV Insurance says it is monitoring the situation closely and following the advice of the Federal Department of Health.

“RACV will increase the amount of working from home where practicable to allow more space and social distancing in our core locations.”

HDI Global Regional Head Stefan Feldmann says on LinkedIn that his remote-working team will be “as productive and motivated as always”.

“Our entire team is well prepared and our partners and clients will continue to be serviced fully.”

insuranceNEWS.com.au staff will also work from home over the next few days, and possibly longer. Travel and non-essential meetings have also been banned until further notice.