Tag Archives: Business Interruption

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

Amy’s Kitchen: A step in the right direction

By Adrienne N. Kitchen and Douglas C. Rawles on Posted in COVID-19, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General, Property Damage & Business Interruption
On October 4, the California First Appellate District in Amy’s Kitchen, Inc. v. Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, 2022 Cal. App. LEXIS 836, reversed a trial court’s order granting the insurer’s demurrer in a COVID-19 property damage claim, and remanded to allow the policyholder to amend its allegations of loss under a communicable disease coverage extension.  … 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

“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

FCA v. Arch and others – The UK Supreme Court’s final word on business interruption insurance losses in light of the COVID-19 pandemic

By Peter Hardy, Margaret Campbell, Mark Pring, Laura-May Scott, Catherine Lewis, Emily McMahan, Charlotte Stewart-Jones and Thomas Morgan on Posted in Insurance Coverage, Property Damage & Business Interruption
The United Kingdom Supreme Court (UKSC) handed down its judgment on 15 January 2021 in The Financial Conduct Authority v. Arch Insurance (UK) Limited and Others. This test case was brought by the FCA on behalf of SME business interruption (BI) policyholders who have suffered financial losses as a result of COVID-19. The High Court … Continue Reading

COVID-19 event cancellation insurance – good news and bad news

By Mark Pring, Elizabeth F. Vieyra and Anthony B. Crawford on Posted in Commercial General Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General
A concert promoter cancels a sold-out show of a world-renowned recording artist, reimbursing millions of dollars in ticket sales as a result.  If the reason for the cancellation was COVID-19, does insurance cover that? Event Cancellation Insurance Basics Event cancellation insurance generally provides coverage only when there has been a triggering event under the policy.  … Continue Reading

Join us for an on-demand webinar “What policyholders really need to know about insurance for COVID-19”

By Elizabeth F. Vieyra on Posted in Commercial General Liability, D&O, E&O, Professional Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General, Property Damage & Business Interruption, Uncategorized
Reed Smith Insurance Recovery partners John Shugrue, John Ellison, Amber Finch, Richard Lewis, and Matthew Weaver offer discussion and analysis on key issues relevant to businesses seeking, or evaluating whether to seek, coverage for COVID-19 losses. This webinar is available on demand and you can register here. Here’s a brief summary of the topics addressed in … Continue Reading

Insurance Recovery Tips for Companies Suffering Damage after Recent Disasters: 2017 Hurricanes (Harvey, Irma, Maria, Nate), Earthquake (Mexico City), and Wine Country Wildfires (California)

By John Shugrue, James M. Davis and Kevin Dreher on Posted in Insurance Coverage, Property Damage & Business Interruption
Companies are facing operational and logistical challenges in recovering from the widespread destruction caused by these natural disasters. They will be looking to property damage and business interruption insurance to get them back on track. The time and cost to return to normal operations could be unusually long given the widespread destruction and the lack … Continue Reading

Proving Your Business Income Loss: Defeating Insurance Company Challenges to Policyholder Evidence

By Rich Lewis and Paul Walker-Bright on Posted in Insurance Coverage
Courts commonly observe that the purpose of Business Interruption or Business Income insurance is to put the policyholder in the same position it would have been in had there been no interruption. The Business Interruption inquiry is, thus, counterfactual. As such, for Business Interruption claims that go to trial, insurance companies and policyholders alike usually … Continue Reading

Potentially Fraudulent Insurance Company Practices Are Exposed In Superstorm Sandy Litigation

By Jay M. Levin and Jennifer Katz on Posted in Insurance News of Note, Property Damage & Business Interruption
We recently marked the two year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy. With that anniversary came an influx of litigation in response to insurance companies denying or overly limiting coverage. That litigation recently revealed highly questionable practices within the industry.… Continue Reading

The End of the Snow Is Still Not the End of the Problems For the Buffalo, NY Area

By Anthony B. Crawford on Posted in Property Damage & Business Interruption
The Buffalo, New York area has been devastated with record level snowfalls causing widespread damage. Now that the snow has stopped falling, warmer weather and potentially heavy rainfall may cause flooding and will likely exacerbate the losses being experienced. This will complicate insurance claims because policyholders will inevitably face pushback from insurance companies regarding the extent of damage from the snowstorms versus subsequent flooding.… Continue Reading

2003 Blackout Held to Involve ‘Property Damage’ Sufficient to Support Claim Under Property Policy

By Doug Widin on Posted in Insurance Coverage
On April 22 , 2009, the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court published its March 9, 2009 opinion holding that the massive Aug. 13, 2003 electrical blackout of the eastern United States and portions of Canada inflicted “property damage” sufficient to support a property insurance claim. The court held that the loss of functionality that … Continue Reading

Internet Interruption May Trigger Insurance Coverage

By Douglas Cameron, John Ellison and Rich Lewis on Posted in Insurance Coverage
On Dec. 19, 2008, underwater Internet cables in the Mediterranean Sea were cut, causing major connectivity issues to most Middle Eastern countries, as well as to South Asia. News reports are noting that while ships have been deployed to correct the issue, it could be upward of 10-14 days before connectivity is returned to normal. … Continue Reading

Recent Storms and Flooding in Midwest and Great Plains Threaten Property Damage, Loss of Business and Extra Expenses

By James M. Davis, Paul Walker-Bright and Tom Marrinson on Posted in Insurance Coverage
Recent severe storms in the Midwest and Great Plains have caused extensive flooding in several states, with levees and dams breached, roads and interstates washed out or impassible, and cities and towns under water. Corn and other crops have been damaged and destroyed, pushing prices to record highs on commodities exchanges. Power has been lost … Continue Reading
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