A very important High Court decision in the U.K. took place recently, namely The Financial Conduct Authority V Arch Insurance & Others 2020 EWHC 2488 Comm, which is incredibly detailed and at times complex, but the decision can be described as favourable to small business owners seeking to activate their insurance cover due to the virus situation.

It was by no means an outright win for small business owners as insurers did obtain decisions in their favour also.

But a win is a win and should be celebrated.

Does this help the business owner in Ireland, affected by the coronavirus, who has sought and been refused business interruption cover, the answer evidently is no?

This case in the U.K. has been described as the insurance case of the century, and there is a Test case coming before the Irish High Court in the near future and Irish businesses will no doubt be eagerly anticipating the outcome.

The wording of insurance policies is evidently of the utmost importance, and wording can be open to interruption as we all know.

In this case in the U.K., it was concluded that ‘’Notifiable Disease’’ clauses did include pandemic related losses.

This decision might be appealed to the Supreme Court in the U.K.

The decision can be found here.

Disclaimer

Please be advised that the above-mentioned material is intended as an overview and as a broad outline of the topic discussed.

It should not be considered as complete and comprehensive legal advice, nor act as an appropriate substitute.

Due care has been taken in the publication of this article and we do not accept legal liability as a result of reliance on any material covered in the above article.