Latest Business Interruption Headlines

All the headlines from our Business Interruption Topic Page, ordered by recency.

New Business Interruption Insurance Class Action Launched in Canada

Jul 7 2020 // Koskie Minsky LLP and the Merchant Law Group have launched a proposed national class action lawsuit alleging that Canadian insurance companies have breached their contracts with business owners by refusing to pay for...

State Judge Rejects Michigan Restaurants’ COVID-19 Business Interruption Claim

Jul 7 2020 // A trial court judge in Lansing, Michigan handed a victory to insurers in what may be the nation’s first final ruling on the question of whether a property insurer is liable for financial damages caused by a...

How to Reduce the Expense of cyber business interruption

Jul 6 2020 // According to the IBM “Cost of a Data Breach Report, 2019”, business interruption (BI) represents 36% of the cost of a cyber breach, averaging a whopping $1.42 million per breach. The report states that, for the...

Insurer Group Warns About California Bill Mandating Business Interruption Coverage

Jul 2 2020 // The American Property Casualty Insurance Association is opposing legislation that would create a rebuttable presumption that the COVID-19 virus caused property damage triggering business interruption coverage in commercial...

How to Prepare for the Next ‘Black-Swan’ Event? Lloyd’s Has Some Suggestions.

Jul 2 2020 // Lloyd’s of London is proposing solutions that could provide customers with greater protection against a future wave of the COVID-19 virus or future systemic – “black swan” – catastrophes, such as...

S. African Insurers Are Pushed to Pay COVID-19 Business Interruption Claims

Jul 2 2020 // Virus-related claims from just over 500 small South African firms battling insurers who have rejected them are worth up to 4 billion rand ($232 million), the firm representing the businesses has calculated. Loss adjustment...

Minor League Baseball Teams Sue Insurers for Coronavirus Business Income Losses

Jun 24 2020 // Fifteen U.S. minor league baseball teams on Tuesday sued several insurers for not paying out claims for business interruption losses after the cancellation of “much or all” of the league’s season as a...

Insurer Counters Income Loss Claims by Arguing Restaurants Operated Takeout Service

Jun 18 2020 // An insurer fighting business income claims from restaurants is arguing in part that there is no coverage because businesses were allowed to provide takeout and delivery service during lockdowns. Society Insurance, based in...

Reassuring Customers Part of Job for Minnesota Agent in Aftermath of Riots

Jun 15 2020 // Dan Gutlovics did a lot of virtual hand holding during the first days of the violent protests in Minneapolis and St. Paul following the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police on May 25. Gutlovics,...

The Debate Between Business Owners, Insurers Over Business Interruption Claims Continues

Jun 15 2020 // As the insurance industry faces litigation and questions over virus-related claim denials, it could soon be dealing with another business income hurdle due to the civil unrest that has taken place in many U.S. cities...

How COVID-19 Will Change Insurance Sales

Jun 15 2020 // An agent who is a client of mine asked me, “Do you really think any business owner is truly happy with their agent or insurance company today?” Good question. Having to tell the public over and over and over,...

Some Question Insurers’ Estimates of Coronavirus Business Interruption Claims

Jun 12 2020 // U.S. property and casualty insurers have cast the coronavirus pandemic as an unprecedented event whose massive cost to small businesses they are neither able nor required to cover. The industry has warned it could cost...

Global Insurers Pulled into Epicenter of COVID-19 Crisis, Firmly in Uncharted Territory

Jun 10 2020 // Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal locked in spell-binding battle. Paul McCartney sharing a stage with Kendrick Lamar and Taylor Swift. The long-awaited 32nd Olympic Games. The list of canned crowd-thrillers that were planned...

The BIG Idea for Business Interruption Coverage: What It Is and Isn’t

Jun 10 2020 // Good faith coverage disputes over pandemic-related business interruption coverage don’t have to be fought out in courts, and retroactive rewrites of business interruption coverage language are unfair, according to a...

S&P Pegs Coronavirus Losses at $15-$30B. Chief Risk Officers Think That’s Low.

Jun 9 2020 // Analysts for Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings shared a view that U.S. underwriting losses from COVID-19 would fall in the $15-$30 billion range. However, risk officers speaking at a rating agency conference last...

Diverging Views: Is COVID a One-Off Catastrophe or Not?

Jun 5 2020 // While reinsurers are “open for business” and insurers and reinsurers are reporting the impacts of COVID-19 as a one-off catastrophe impacting earnings rather than capital, equity markets are viewing the...

Did Debate Over Business Income Insurance Just Get More Complicated?

Jun 4 2020 // As the insurance industry faces litigation and questions over virus-related claim denials, it could soon be dealing with another business income hurdle due to the civil unrest that has taken place in many U.S. cities...

Insurers Prepare for Claims as East States See Property Damage from Civil Unrest

Jun 4 2020 // Scenes that played out over the past few days in several East region states are serving as a stark reminder for the insurance industry of civil unrest that took place in New York and other U.S. states more than 50 years...

British Regulator Enlists 8 Insurers in Pandemic Test Case of Business Interruption Cover

Jun 1 2020 // Insurers including Hiscox, RSA and QBE will take part in a UK test case to decide whether their policies should pay out millions of pounds to companies hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the industry regulator said on...

Coronavirus Business Interruption Suits Top 100; More Expected

Jun 1 2020 // A federal court has received notice that 101 lawsuits have been filed as of late May seeking coverage from insurers for business interruption losses caused by COVID-19. Plaintiffs attorneys say they expect the number to...