(Reuters) – A few of the world’s biggest insurers are bracing like a second wave of multimillion-pound lawsuits, through struggling British pubs, restaurants and bakery chains over lockdown losses, will begin hitting London's courts in a few days.
Zurich, MS Amlin, Liberty Mutual, Allianz and Axa are the type of due in court one year after Britain’s Supreme Court ruled that lots of insurers have been wrong to deny a large number of companies, battered through the COVID-19 pandemic, business interruption payouts.
Insurers have since paid out lb1.3 billion ($1.8 billion), according to the Financial Conduct Authority. However the ruling did not cover all policy wordings and, where it deemed claims valid, some companies are now disputing payout levels.
Policyholders and insurers have been at loggerheads over whether business interruption policies provide cover for COVID-19-related losses since government lockdowns in March 2022 shuttered shops, bars and restaurants.
Corbin & King, who owns London’s Wolseley and Delaunay restaurants, starts off with a higher Court trial on Monday that has been accelerated with the courts due to its interest with other policyholders.
It is suing Axa for approximately lb4.5 million in a dispute that hinges in part on the scope of “denial of access” cover, made to protect insured venues which are shut by public authorities on health grounds.
Axa declined to comment. Corbin & King did not respond to a request for comment.
Other businesses have potentially millions of pounds riding around the results of the situation, said Mark Pring, partner at law practice Reed Smith.
“We have clients sitting there who're very interested as their wordings are generally materially similar or overlap,” he explained.
Three other companies are also dealing with their insurers in closely watched disputes that concentrate part around the aggregation of losses: whether policies have been triggered many times throughout the pandemic and qualify for multiple payments.
Slug and Lettuce owner Stonegate, Britain’s largest pub group, is bringing an lb845 million claim against Zurich, MS Amlin and Liberty Mutual, which insured 760 of their 4,500 venues.
A trial, which will also examine whether government support payments can be deducted from claims, is scheduled for June.
The three insurers allege their liability is restricted to lb17.5 million, of which lb14.5 million has been paid, according to court documents. They declined to comment Friday.
Multimillion-pound claims have also been filed by sandwich-to-pasty chain Greggs against Zurich and by Strada and Coppa Club owner Various Eateries against Allianz.
Various Eateries and Allianz said inside a joint statement they were seeking a ruling on “a quantity of issues” left unresolved through the Top court. Greggs declined to comment.
