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Chubb in coverage fight over Ben Affleck movie delay

Posted On: Sep. 10, 2020 2:20 PM CST

Hypnotic

The producers of a planned thriller starring Ben Affleck, whose April production start date was postponed because of COVID-19, sued a Chubb Ltd. unit on Wednesday over its refusal to extend its insurance coverage to accommodate the delay.

Los Angeles-based Hoosegow (Hypnotic) Productions Inc. had a producers risk policy with Chubb Ltd. unit Chubb National to cover the production of the film “Hypnotic,”, according to the lawsuit Hoosegow (Hypnotic) Productions Inc. vs. Chubb National Insurance Co. filed in U.S. District court in Los Angeles.

The policy, which expires in October, provides $58 million of production media coverage per occurrence, $58 million of media perils coverage per occurrence and $58 million of declared person coverage per occurrence, in addition to other coverages, according to the complaint. 

After production was shut down because of the pandemic, Hoosegow sought to extend its coverage’s expiration date, but Chubb “categorically refused” to do so, according to the complaint.

Instead, it said it would provide coverage “with a material reduction in scope of the insurance,” including the addition of an exclusion applicable to COVID-19-related losses, “thereby depriving Hoosegow of coverage that it had purchased and that was promised under the existing policy.”

The complaint charges Chubb with claims including breach of contract, tortious breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, fraud and negligent misrepresentation.

The insurer said in a statement: “As a matter of policy Chubb does not comment on pending legal matters.”

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