COVID-19 and Cover Under Insurance Policies
COVID-19 and Cover Under Insurance Policies Business Interruption Most Business Interruption cover is based on a specified list of diseases and has been since the SARS outbreak in 2003. These policies exclude business interruption due to new and emerging diseases, like COVID-19. Most policy wordings clearly identify the diseases that cover is offered for and, in addition, highlights that new and emerging diseases like COVID-19 are not covered. The current COVID-19 outbreak is therefore not covered under a significant majority of business interruption policies. Most business interruption policies traditionally focus on physical events such as a fire at a premises. Although contingent business interruption extensions for a range of non-damage scenarios are available, such covers typically have much lower limits, shorter indemnity periods and are not guaranteed to respond to novel causes of loss such as COVD-19. We are aware of the comments made in recent