Supreme Court Judgement in Covid-19 Insurance claims

The Supreme Court has issued a judgement on Friday 15 January which determines that business interruption claims arising out of COVID-19 will, subject to policy wording, be valid claims under relevant contracts of insurance.

The decision of the Supreme Court follows from a test case brought by the Financial Conduct Authority to determine the scope of policy cover under a range of specimen contracts of insurance. In large part the Supreme Court has determined that the policies in question do cover business interruption as a consequence of COVID-19. It marks a significant development for SMEs who had insurance cover in place against such an eventuality.

If you think you may be covered by such insurance now is the time to review your insurance policy and to make contact with your insurers about a claim. Policy wording will vary from one contract of insurance to another and it may be necessary to review the contract of insurance to see if it is covered or not. At WJM we will be happy to offer appropriate advice in such cases.

If you would like further advice on this issue please contact:

• Andrew J P Wilson: ajpw@wjm.co.uk

• Liam Entwistle: lae@wjm.co.uk

• Steven Docherty: sd@wjm.co.uk