direct physical loss News

Amicus Briefs Piling Up as Calif. High Court Mulls Coverage for COVID-19 Shutdowns

Major League Baseball, the Los Angeles Lakers and Ross Stores are among 10 parties that have filed amicus briefs as the California Supreme Court ponders whether the virus that causes COVID-19 can cause direct physical damage or loss to property. …

Two More Circuit Courts Reject COVID-19 Business-Interruption Claims

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that the coronavirus did not cause a direct physical damage or loss to a New York City art gallery — issuing the latest in a long series of defeats for policyholders seeking …

Contrary Judges Resist ‘Herding Behavior’ for COVID-19 Claims

Insurers continue to prevail in the vast majority of lawsuits that seek business-interruption coverage for income lost during COVID-19 shutdowns, but a small minority of state court judges are taking a contrary view. On Monday, Cook County Circuit Court Judge …

Ruling May Portend Bitter End for COVID Business Interruption Claimants

A federal appellate court ruling that dismissed a dental practice’s COVID-19 business interruption claim might be the beginning of the end for policyholder arguments that income lost because of government shutdowns should be recovered through commercial property insurance policies. The …

Restaurants Ask N.C. Supreme Court to Bypass Appeals Court in COVID Win

A group of North Carolina restaurants and an industry group are asking the North Carolina Supreme Court to bypass the Court of Appeals and take up an insurer’s appeal of a trial court decision that found coverage was owed for …

Conn. Judge Rules No Coverage Owed for Wholesaler’s $100M in COVID Losses

A Connecticut judge ruled that The Hartford did not owe coverage to designer footwear wholesaler Marc Fisher for more than $100 million in losses caused by COVID-19 business closures. Waterbury Judicial District Judge Barbara N. Bellis ruled that government orders …

N.H. Hotel Group Chalks Rare Win in Pandemic-Related Business Interruption Lawsuit

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A judge has ruled in favor of a group of hotels whose owners sued their insurance carriers over lost business during the coronavirus pandemic. Businessman Mark Stebbins of Schleicher & Stebbins Hotels, LLC, one of the …

In Rare Policyholder Win, Texas Judge Refuses to Dismiss Theater Chain’s COVID Lawsuit

A federal judge in Sherman, Texas on Wednesday ruled against an insurer that sought to dismiss a $500 million COVID-19 business-interruption lawsuit by the nation’s third-largest chain of movie theaters. The decision broke a month’s-long losing streak for policyholders seeking …

Ohio Supreme and 8th Circuit Mull Whether COVID Can Cause Direct Physical Loss

Two appellate courts took steps this week toward answering a key question that may seal the fate of some 1,500 lawsuits seeking insurance coverage for COVID-19-related business-interruption losses: Does the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus or people infected with it …

Judge Rules in Favor of 3 Policyholders With COVID-19 Claims in Consolidated Case

A federal judge denied Society Insurance’s motions to dismiss three “bellwether” lawsuits filed by hospitality businesses that were denied coverage for revenue lost because of COVID-19 public health orders. U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang in Chicago, who was assigned a …