Restaurant wins COVID-19 coverage ruling

A Missouri state court last week ruled that a Zurich Insurance Group policy was ambiguous and that a restaurant’s COVID-19-related business interruption claim was covered.

In a brief Feb. 4 order, which was published Thursday, in Ja-Del Inc. v. Zurich American Insurance Co. et al, the Kansas City-based court ruled “this Court finds and concludes that the language of the policy at issue is ambiguous and, therefore, the claim is covered under the policy.”

Ja-Del, which operated Jack Stack Barbecue Restaurants, sued Zurich and its brokers last year saying it had suffered lost income and “direct physical losses” as a result of mandated shutdowns related to the pandemic, but Zurich had denied its business interruption claim.

The case is one of numerous legal disputes over pandemic-related business interruption claims. Insurers have so far won most of the trial court rulings, but policyholders have also scored victories in the various disputes.

Zurich declined to comment on the ruling.

More insurance and risk management news on the coronavirus crisis here.