Mishcon de Reya believes insurers such as Aviva and Chubb should be paying out for Covid-related business interruption claims that fall under ‘resilience’ policy wordings
Law firm Mishcon de Reya is considering expanding its group action by launching legal proceedings against 12 insurers following the verdict last week on the FCA’s test case – the law firm believes that ‘resilience’ policy wordings used within some non-damage business interruption (BI) clauses should be paying out on policyholder claims linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Mishcon de Reya, the High Court ruling declared last week that ‘resilience’ policy wordings - which have been drafted by broker Marsh/Jelf – should pay out on BI claims triggered by Covid-19 or government action that responds to the pandemic.
The 12 insurers Mishcon de Reya believes uses these policy wordings include:
- Allianz
- AIG
- Aspen
- Aviva
- AXA
- Chubb
- Liberty
- MS Amlin
- Protector
- RSA
- QBE
- Zurich
Sonia Campbell, a Mishcon de Reya partner and insurance specialist, said: “We know that many of these insurers have told resilience policyholders that they are not covered when the High Court has now made it clear that they are.
“We are inviting any resilience policyholders insured by any of these insurers to get in touch and we can then advise them on coverage under their policies.
“Given the court’s judgment on the resilience wording, we believe that Aviva and RSA were wrong not to pay their policyholders’ claims, and it follows that the other insurers who have insured policyholders using the very same policy wording must also be wrong not to pay Covid-19 claims for business interruption.
“We are actively considering a group action against all of these insurers to force them to honour their obligations.”
Insurance Times has contacted the 12 insurers targeted by Mishcon de Reya for their comments, as well as Marsh.
Aviva, Allianz, Aspen, QBE and Zurich have declined to comment.
David Ruddock, claims manager UK at Protector Insurance, said: ”To date we have not had any communication from Mishcon de Reya to confirm they are acting on behalf of any of our policyholders and at this time we do not have any further comment to make.”
A spokesperson for Marsh said: “[The test case verdict] is an important step towards greater clarity for our clients. Over the coming days we will be communicating with them after examining the findings. We continue to support all our clients’ claims and will look for ways to achieve favourable outcomes for them. Where the court has found that policies respond to the circumstances of Covid-19, we expect insurers to pay these claims without delay.”
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