On the face of it then, firms who have "business interruption" cover in their insurance policies and are impacted by the effects of the outbreak could be forgiven for thinking they could justifiably claim.
Alas though, they never are and in this, as in many other cases, the truth of who is covered and who isn’t is engulfed in often impenetrable legalese and technical jargon. An example might be a case of Legionella infection in the water in a hotel perhaps, or a problem with contamination of food within a building that shuts a restaurant down.
In the same vein, there will be others where, strictly speaking, the insurers may be correct in their interpretation and customers don’t have a right to a claim. That would involve exceptions being made on policies that aren’t clear, putting them in the same bracket as those that are. They have been contacted by the Alliance for Insurance Reform in recent days and it has asked the Minister for Finance to intervene.
The Central Bank appears to be singing from the same hymn sheet and it is understood that it has issued a number of questionnaires to insurance companies about the issue.
Oh no ... poor guys. Who might have imagined that an insurer have to pay out money if something happens? 😱