Top insurers such as AXA, RSA, QBE and Zurich face a potential multi-million pound lawsuit from British pubs, hotels, restaurants and leisure groups, who allege that legitimate business interruption claims have been rejected.
A new Hospitality Insurance Action Group (Higa) yesterday issued a “call to arms” to the sector to step forward and have their policies checked for free in the latest move to tackle insurers over their response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The most stringent government lockdown in peacetime history, ordered in March to slow the spread of a disease that has caused more than 24,000 British deaths to date, has left businesses struggling for survival and the economy facing a deep recession.
Any successful claim will hinge partly on whether the lockdown triggers a clause in business interruption policies designed for insured premises that cannot be used because of restrictions imposed by a public authority, experts say.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said earlier this month that most insurance policies bought by smaller British companies do not cover the coronavirus-related disruption, but that those that do should pay out quickly.
AXA, RSA and Zurich said yesterday that very few businesses would have BI cover that would extend to the pandemic, but that they were paying valid claims.
QBE also said it was paying valid claims and that its policies did not cover a global pandemic where general movement and business restrictions had been imposed by national governments.
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