- July 27, 2021
- Posted by: Stratford Team
- Category: Business
A federal appellate court ruling that dismissed a dental practice’s COVID-19 business interruption claim might be the beginning of the end for policyholder arguments that income lost because of government shutdowns should be recovered through commercial property insurance policies.
The US 8th Circuit Court of Appeals’ July 2 decision in Oral Surgeons v. Cincinnati Insurance Co. echoed dozens of district court rulings that granted dismissal and summary judgment motions by insurers that argued SARS-CoV-2 did not cause a direct physical loss to property.
Insurers have won more than 90% of the federal court decisions issued so far, according to a litigation tracker maintained by the University of Pennsylvania. Insurers have won 70% of the time in state court if dismissals without prejudice count as an insurer win.
Robert Hartwig
Robert Hartwig, a University of South Carolina economics professor and former head of the Insurance Information…
