Should COVID-19 count as a 'business interruption'? The insurance industry doesn't think so

  • 📰 abcnews
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 47 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 22%
  • Publisher: 83%

South Africa News News

South Africa South Africa Latest News,South Africa South Africa Headlines

Australian businesses are fighting their insurers for lost revenue suffered during the worst of the pandemic, but the insurance industry claims coronavirus doesn't count as 'business interruption'.

No system is 100 per cent secure, but the Signal app can be used to protect your identity by using end-to-end encryption. Please read the terms and conditions of the app to work out if it is the best method of communication for you.

"They made a mistake," said Berrill and Watson lawyer John Berrill, who is representing Mr Haupt and more than a dozen other business interruption insurance customers. Zurich declined requests for an interview and in a statement said it does not comment on individual customers.The Insurance Council of Australia estimates that around 250,000 business interruption policies contain specific references to the Quarantine Act, and there could be many more policies that use different wording to exclude pandemic cover.

In November, a panel of five judges in the NSW Court of Appeal unanimously ruled in favour of the customers involved in the test case — signalling that the insurance industry should start paying out the claims. Lawyer John Berrill says the industry should start paying customers affected by the pandemic exclusion immediately.The ICA's Andrew Hall says insurers have paid some claims.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 5. in ZA

South Africa South Africa Latest News, South Africa South Africa Headlines