Local: (805)-371-3680 | Toll Free: (800) 240-CHIV
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
YouTube
Chivaroli Insurance Services
  • INSURANCE COVERAGE
    • Healthcare Professional Liability
    • Directors’ & Officers’ Liability
    • Commercial Property
    • Managed Care / Billing / Miscellaneous
    • Employment Practices Liability
    • Difference in Conditions
    • Regulatory Proceedings Errors & Omissions
    • Fiduciary Responsibility
    • Property Terrorism
    • Commercial General Liability
    • Commercial Crime
    • Commercial Automobile
    • Stop Loss Coverage
    • Representations & Warranties
    • Business Owners Package
    • Security & Privacy (Cyber Liability)
    • Workers Compensation
    • Home / Auto / Valuables / Umbrella
  • OTHER SERVICES
    • Credentialing Requests
    • Consulting Services
    • Alternatives
    • Risk Management
    • Wholesale Brokerage
  • RESOURCES
    • Healthcare Resources
    • Insurance Resources
    • Terms & Definitions
  • NEWS
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT

Drama Builds in Business Interruption Insurance Fight

April 24, 2020Chivaroli and Associates Insurance ServicesGeneral Article

The legal action over business interruption insurance stemming from the new coronavirus is shaping up to be a huge struggle.

Two motions filed on April 20 asked the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to consolidate federal lawsuits accusing insurance companies of avoiding claims by businesses shut down by government orders, according to an article published on Reuters.

The consolidation brief argues that all of the complaints filed so far raise two common questions: does coronavirus cause physical damage or property loss, and does insurance coverage kick in when the virus is present on or near a policyholder’s property?

There is no guarantee the cases will be allowed to consolidate. University of Minnesota law professor Daniel Schwarcz told Reuters there are immense complications since insurance law questions are matters of state law, and every state has a unique precedent.

Still, another high-profile participant weighed in on business interruption insurance in early April when President Donald Trump said he “would like to see the insurance companies pay if they need to pay.”

During one of the White House coronavirus briefings, the president said there’s “an exclusion” for pandemics “in some cases,” but “in a lot of cases, I don’t see it,” according to Marketwatch.

“You have people that have never asked for business-interruption insurance, and they’ve been paying a lot of money for a lot of years for the privilege of having it,” President Trump said during the briefing. “And then when they finally need it, the insurance company says, ‘We’re not going to give it.’ We can’t let that happen.”

A group of U.S. House lawmakers has other ideas on how to handle the questions around business interruption insurance. They have introduced a bill, H.R. 6494, to compel insurers to pay pandemic-related business interruption losses.

“Businesses who have purchased business interruption insurance in good faith and are forced to close their doors because of a major event and through no fault of their own deserve to have their claims honored,” bill sponsor Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) said in a statement.

Over the past few weeks, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania have proposed similar legislation to require insurers to pay for pandemic business interruption claims.

The property-casualty insurance industry maintains that business interruption policies should not cover pandemic-related losses.

“Standard commercial insurance policies offer coverage and protection against a wide range of risks and threats and are vetted and approved by state regulators. Insurance coverage works by spreading risk, but that model simply cannot account for a situation in which losses are catastrophic and nearly universal,” insurance trade groups wrote in a letter to federal lawmakers in response to H.R. 6494.

 

Chivaroli and Associates Insurance Services
Chivaroli & Associates Insurance Services is a full-service brokerage and consulting firm that specializes in the custom design and placement of property and casualty insurance and alternative risk funding solutions for healthcare organizations.
Previous post Captive Insurance Shows its Value in Coronavirus Crisis Next post With Telemedicine In the Spotlight, Fraud Risks Emerge

Sign up for News Updates

* = required field

Categories

  • Article Archives
  • General Article
  • Private
  • Uncategorized

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • April 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014

Chivaroli and Associates Insurance Services is a full-service brokerage firm specializing in the custom-design and placement of insurance and alternative risk funding solutions for your healthcare organization.

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
YouTube

Contact Us Today

Address:
200 North Westlake Blvd., Suite 101
Westlake Village, CA 91362
Phone:
805-371-3680
E-mail:
mail@chivarolitr.wpengine.com

Resources

Health Care
Insurance
Terms & Definitions
News
About

Policies

Cookie Policy
Disclaimer

Recent News

  • Lawmakers Seek New Limits to Travel Nurse Costs
  • Experts Predict Healthcare M&A Will Accelerate in 2023
  • Surveys Indicate a Persistent Hard Insurance Market
  • Doctors are Disappearing from Hospital ERs as Private Equity Cuts Costs
© 2023 All rights reserved. Powered By Insurance Agency Website by Stratosphere