American legal firm Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath says business interruption customers that anticipate their policy wording may be airtight against legal action over claim denials have begun to take aim at their brokers.
Covid-19 has led to legal action against insurers across the country, as businesses believe they should be able to claim on their policies as they’re forced to close.
But traditional policies in large part only respond to physical property damage, and in the few cases where additional cover does include state-mandated shutdown due to diseases, some policies include a list of named illnesses, with unlisted items excluded.
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath points to three new cases that reveal some are now looking to rope in brokers as they seek to litigate:
Sean Boutros, M.D., P.A. v. Sentinel Insurance Co. Ltd.
John’s Grill v. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.
Ybarra Investments, Inc. v. Scottsdale Insurance Company.
In all three cases, plaintiffs sought business interruption coverage after their businesses were forced to shut down due to Covid-19, and all three sued the insurer and the broker they bought through.
More information on the cases is available here