Following the latest Commercial Court proceedings, more businesses will be entitled to pursue unpaid business interruption (BI) claims for their Covid-19 losses. Insurers’ refusals to pay out on BI policies may have caused companies across the UK to initiate or succumb to insolvency proceedings; these latest legal results could have major implications for not only going-concern businesses, as they might be entitled to significant financial redress from insurers but also creditors of companies which are in liquidation.
The potential scope for businesses to claim back losses has been widened by the recent result in the LMIE Test Cases, where the court concluded that a Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe (“LMIE”) wording would provide cover for business interruption losses caused by Covid-19.
This follows the decision by the same judge in the ‘ATP test case’ won by the Stewarts team for London’s ExCel centre in June 2023, which established that the Supreme Court’s reasoning in the 2021 FCA Test Case extended to ‘at the premises’ disease clauses found in policies held by thousands of other policyholders.
Aaron Le Marquer, Head of Policyholder Disputes at Stewarts, says: “The latest test case decision represents a further win for policyholders and is in many ways the natural conclusion of the FCA Test Case commenced in 2020. The court’s decision has established that policyholders insured under Prevention of Access wordings whose claims were initially declined following the Test Case decision in September 2020, may now finally be entitled to pursue their claims.”
Stewarts Covid Claims Service
Liquidators or administrators who think a company may have a valid business interruption insurance claim should get in contact with our team via email: CovidClaims@stewartslaw.com.
Directors of companies which suffered interruption following the Covid-19 pandemic should visit the Stewarts Covid Claims Portal to obtain a free policy review and advice on whether they are now entitled to pursue a claim. Subject to the terms of each insurance policy, it is expected there are still many thousands of policyholders who could collectively recoup tens of millions of pounds in business interruption losses from their insurers as a result of the pandemic.
Our Policyholder Disputes team have advised hundreds of policyholders of all sizes and across all industry sectors in relation to their Covid-19 business interruption claims. The department will be working in tandem with the firm’s Insolvency and Asset Recovery practice and can provide additional legal insolvency support where required.
You can find further information regarding our expertise, experience and team on our Policyholder Disputes and Insolvency and Asset Recovery pages.
If you require assistance from our team, please contact us.
Subscribe – In order to receive our news straight to your inbox, subscribe here. Our newsletters are sent no more than once a month.
