Wilmington/New York — To hear Century 21 Stores tell it, the New York retailer should have survived the pandemic because it had business interruption insurance. Instead, insurers refused to pay, and Century 21 is shutting down after almost 60 years in business.
“Their business model has proven to them that saying ‘no’ earns them more money than saying ‘yes’,” Andrews said. “While retailers across the board have suffered greatly due to Covid-19, and Century 21 is no exception, we are confident that had we received any meaningful portion of the insurance proceeds, we would have been able to save thousands of jobs and weather the storm.”
Often, insurance is a key asset for companies trying to reorganise and get a fresh start, said Fitzgerald, who is now with Tucker Arensberg law firm. In more than half a dozen cases, the carriers persuaded a judge to throw out the lawsuit, in part because the court agreed that a property insurance policy can’t be invoked if there is no property damage.