Insurance Companies Are Wrongfully Denying Business Interruption Coverage
BIG (Business Interruption Group) is a nonprofit that insists insurers pay owed business losses caused by the coronavirus. If Insurers do not start paying insurance business claims, we will bring BIG legal action in every state. To avoid payments triggered by a Civil Authority Shutdown, the insurance industry is spreading deceptive propaganda. This disinformation campaign is intended to deceive policyholders about their coverage in two ways: (i) That all policies have a virus exclusion. (Many policies do not have a virus/pandemic exclusion); (ii) The virus does not cause property damage. (This is factually and legally untrue – the virus is creating a dangerous property condition).
If you agree and would like to lend your voice, please register on the BIG website.
Chefs, Law Firm Form Coalition
To fight for insurance claims related to coronavirus. Gauthier, Murphy & Houghtaling, LLP, the law firm that sued insurers on behalf of the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group in California and Cajun Conti in Louisiana has formed a coalition to take on the insurance industry on behalf of restaurants. John Houghtaling, majority partner in the law firm, told Restaurant Hospitality that the lawsuits were filed for Keller and Cajun Conti to establish precedent that business interruption due to the coronavirus pandemic must be covered. Keller’s claim was denied on the grounds that his property had not suffered physical damage, which the lawsuit claims is untrue because the virus does, indeed, stay on hard surfaces for many days, damaging the property by putting at risk anyone who comes in contact with it.
Trump Tells Insurers to Pay Virus Claims
If pandemic not excluded. President Donald Trump on Friday staked out his position in a legal battle over business-interruption claims: Unless the policy excludes pandemics, insurers should pay. “You have people that have never asked for business-interruption insurance and they have been paying a lot of money for a lot of years for the privilege of having it and then when they finally need it, the insurance company says ‘We’re not going to give it,’” Trump said. “We can’t let that happen.” Trump said that he had purchased business-interruption insurance for some of his businesses when he was in the private sector. “The president saying I’m not going to let them get away with it, I’m proud of that.”
Did You Know?
When Civil Authorities take over, are you covered? The coronavirus has spread to every state in the United States, prompting a variety of responses by federal, state, and local civil authorities. Those civil authority actions have included orders recommending social distancing; (i) stay-at-home orders; (ii) closure of restaurants/bars; (iii) temporary postponement of medical or dental procedures not necessary to address a medical emergency or to preserve the health and safety of a patient; and (iv) continuance of court proceedings. While the current pandemic gives rise to the discussion, the principles also apply in the context of other catastrophes that impact a wide geographic area, such as wildfires, winter storms, or floods. This article examines the questions surrounding loss due to closure or denial of access to insured property that can be attributed to a civil authority order.
Employee Tip
Self-Employed and struggling? How to choose between unemployment and Paycheck Protection Program. Last Friday the two primary stimulus programs for small businesses —Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) and the Paycheck Protection (PPP) Loan program— both ran out of money. PPP loans dried up just days after they became available to gig workers, freelancers and the self-employed. At the same time, EIDL advances were cut to $1,000 per employee and the SBA revised what would be needed for PPP applications and forgiveness. Don’t give up yet, though, if you’re self-employed. There’s still help available. PPP appears likely to get additional funding and unemployment insurance is available to self-employed people for the first time ever. How to determine whether unemployment or the PPP loan will work best for you.
Restaurant Industry Daily Alerts
A voice for our industry. If you are finding these daily bulletins informative and beneficial during this pandemic, we kindly ask that you write a brief Google review providing a vote of your appreciation. Simply Google “Bielat Santore & Company” and when the company name appears click the button on the right to write your review or; if you don’t use Gmail, go to Google Maps, type “Bielat Santore & Company” – Allenhurst, NJ into Google Maps; scroll down and you will see an option to leave a review.
Thank you and remember all of the “Restaurant Industry Alerts” and “Thursday Restaurant Rap” interviews can be found at www.123bsc.com/news/. We intend to continue to keep you informed as we all look for an end to this crisis.
