Archives: Business interruption

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California Supreme Court to offer guidance for COVID-19 coverage cases

By Ashley Jordan and Elizabeth Bowman on Posted in Business interruption, COVID-19, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
Courts continue grappling with the application of California insurance law to COVID-19 business interruption claims. After three years of insurance claims and litigation, the California Supreme Court has agreed to provide guidance as to whether the actual or potential presence of SARS-CoV-2 on insured property can qualify as physical loss of or damage to property … Continue Reading

Policyholders seeking coverage for Covid-19-related losses may have reason to be optimistic

By Nicholas Insua on Posted in Business interruption, COVID-19, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
I recently wrote about lessons that could be learned from the ongoing insurance coverage jurisprudence related to the coronavirus / Covid-19 pandemic.  That article discussed broad trends that had developed and cohered across this vast litigation landscape, through multiple decisions in many courts over the course of several months or more.  Although descriptive, most of … Continue Reading

COVID-19 business income claims – Will state appellate courts reject federal court predictions as to state law?

By Rich Lewis on Posted in Business interruption, COVID-19, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General, Property Damage & Business Interruption
In the past few months, in cases considering whether SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 can cause direct physical loss or damage to property so as to trigger business income coverage, policyholders have secured three wins in state appellate courts: Ungarean in the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, Huntington Ingalls in the Vermont Supreme Court, and Cajun Conti in the Louisiana … Continue Reading

Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole: Answering questions policyholders frequently ask (or should ask) to ensure maximum recovery

By Jessica E. Gopiao and Matthew B. Weaver on Posted in Business interruption, Environmental, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General, Property Damage & Business Interruption
At $40-70 billion in estimated insured losses, Hurricane Ian is the nation’s second most expensive natural disaster for the insurance industry. Less than two months later, Hurricane Nicole made landfall in Florida. Securing insurance coverage for these losses will be an important part of rebuilding and recovery. Recently, Reed Smith’s insurance coverage lawyers hosted a … Continue Reading

Direct physical loss in COVID Coverage cases: Are policyholders seeing a litigation shift in favor of COVID-19 coverage?

By Connor O'Carroll, Elizabeth Bowman and David E. Weiss on Posted in Business interruption, COVID-19, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented closures and losses for businesses throughout the United States. Naturally, policyholders have sought recovery for pandemic-related losses under their “all risk” commercial property policies. According to the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law Covid Coverage Litigation Tracker, there have been approximately 2,300 of these COVID-19 coverage cases … Continue Reading

Maximizing recovery for combined wind and flood damages in hurricane claims

By Maria Castro Sanchez and Matthew B. Weaver on Posted in Business interruption, Insurance General, Property Damage & Business Interruption
This year, Hurricane Ian swept through the Southeastern United States, causing extensive damage to property in the affected areas. While obtaining insurance recoveries for any loss can be a complex endeavor, recovery for hurricane loss is particularly complex, as it typically involves a mix of covered and excluded perils. Most standard homeowners or other property … Continue Reading

Calculating business income losses for a business interruption claim

By Evy Wild and Anthony Newman on Posted in Business interruption, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
Many commercial property insurance policies require that policyholders submit a Sworn Statement in a Proof of Loss (also referred to as “Proof of Loss”) in order to receive benefits under the policy. A Proof of Loss provides the insurer with specific information about the incident giving rise to the claim, such as the cause, the nature … Continue Reading

A policyholder win: Court finds coverage for COVID-19 related losses

By Nat Ochoa and David E. Weiss on Posted in Business interruption, COVID-19, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
Recently, a California federal court issued a favorable decision for policyholders seeking coverage for losses arising from COVID-19 who paid significant premiums to purchase substantial coverage limits including “coverage for business interruption losses from a virus.”  Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. v. Endurance Am. Spec. Ins. Co., Case No. SACV 20-02185 (C.D. Cal., June 15, 2022). … Continue Reading

Looking beyond “Physical Damage to Property”: Is Marina Pacific Hotel a winning framework for policyholders?

By Claire Whitehead and John Vishneski on Posted in Business interruption, COVID-19, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General, Property Damage & Business Interruption
It’s no secret that businesses of all shapes and sizes have suffered tremendous losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. From closures to the “Great Resignation” to ever-changing consumer demands, businesses have dealt with one problem after another. One of those problems is the denial of insurance coverage under  “all risk” commercial property policies. For the last … Continue Reading

Responding to a cyber-related business interruption: best practices

By Brian Himmel and Andy Moss on Posted in Business interruption, Cyberliability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
One of the top issues facing business today is the risk of business interruption resulting from a cyber-related attack. Regardless of the form of attack – ransomware, denial of service, data theft, or other form of malware – any resulting failure of an organization’s network systems can have severe consequences, financial and otherwise. These may … Continue Reading

The duty to defend requires an early judgment

By Benjamin Fliegel on Posted in Business interruption, Commercial General Liability, Construction Coverage, Corporate and Transactional Insurance Coverage, Cyberliability, Employment Practices Liability, Financial Insurance Coverage, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
If an insurance company owes a duty to defend, the dispute should be decided promptly, on the pleadings. Any delay undermines the duty to defend. The scope of the duty to defend should be adjudicated on the pleadings as quickly as possible to give policyholders the true value of their policies and the benefit of … Continue Reading

“Occurrences” in COVID-19 business interruption litigation

By Matthew B. Weaver on Posted in Business interruption, COVID-19, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
Nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the battles over threshold business interruption coverage issues like the presence of physical loss or damage, causation, and the applicability of policy exclusions continue to rage.  Results have been mixed, with insurers notching wins in federal courts, and policyholders faring better in state courts and in certain jurisdictions. … Continue Reading
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