SDV Insights

COVID-19 Business Interruption Challenges

A New York appellate court, in its recent decision in All State Interior Demolition Inc. v. Scottsdale Ins. Co., 92 N.Y.S.3d 256 (N.Y. App. Div. 2019), held that the allegations in a third-party complaint triggered an insurer's duty to defend an additional insured, even when the third-party complaint was filed by the additional insured.

No person or industry in the world will go unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Two related industries that are being hit the hardest are the hospitality and the commercial real estate industries. The hospitality industry is comprised of four segments: food and beverage (F&B), travel and tourism, lodging, and recreation. These four segments often overlap with each other and most segments overlap, to some extent, with the commercial real estate industry.

Boston's recent decision to temporarily shut down city construction projects has many in the industry asking what impact, if any, a COVID-19 related shutdown would have on project insurance.

Every day brings new challenges and concerns as the world grapples with the novel coronavirus. Businesses are already looking to their insurance portfolio as a way to lessen the anticipated impact on their bottom line. Policyholder and insurer side litigators alike seem to agree that we will likely see coronavirus-related coverage issues litigated for years, long after the pandemic has been contained.

On Monday, the iconic New Orleans restaurant, Oceana Grill, filed the first Coronavirus-related business interruption insurance coverage lawsuit in a US jurisdiction. The declaratory judgment action styled Cajun Conti, LLC, et. al. d/b/a Oceana Grill v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's, London was filed in Louisiana state court for the Parish of Orleans.

New Jersey is discussing draft legislation that would require certain property insurers to provide coverage for business interruption losses resulting from the Coronavirus pandemic. If approved, N.J. Draft Bill A-3844 (the "Bill") would have immediate effect and apply retroactively to insurance policies in force on March 9, 2020 that insure against loss or damage to property and include loss of use and occupancy and business interruption coverage.

The unprecedented social and economic impact of the Coronavirus makes it necessary for policyholders to keep open all lines of communications with their insurance brokers, insurance carriers, financial advisors, safety & compliance experts, and insurance coverage counsel even if it is not certain whether they will need to file insurance claims.

Water damage, while one of the leading causes of loss under a property policy, often results in some of the most complex claims due to the intersection of exclusions, sublimits, and complex wording within the policy. One particularly difficult issue is whether water damage caused by a storm surge is covered by the flood sublimit, or under the general policy or water limit.

What do you do when less is more? In many loss scenarios, triggering coverage under multiple policies can be a critical and effective strategy. However, doing so has the potential to complicate the insurance recovery proceedings immensely, and possibly even undermine those overall goals. The relation of "other insurance" clauses, allocation schemes, and the practical impacts of interacting with multiple insurers can all leave the insured with some difficult questions.