London International Exhibition Centre Plc v Allianz Insurance PLC & Ors
[2024] EWCA Civ 1026
Gatwick Investment Limited & Ors v Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe SE
26 January 2024
[2024] EWHC 124 (Comm)
High Court
Several businesses sued their insurers for COVID-19 losses. The judge decided the insurers had to pay for losses caused by government lockdowns. The amount each business got depended on how many times their business was affected. The insurers didn't have to pay for government help the businesses received.
Key Facts
- •Multiple preliminary issues in business interruption insurance claims arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
- •Claims brought by various policyholders against Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe SE, Allianz Insurance PLC, and Aviva Insurance Limited.
- •Policies contained "Prevention of Access (Non-Damage)" (POAND) or similar clauses.
- •Key issues included trigger and causation, policy limits, and treatment of furlough payments (CJRS).
- •Cases involved various types of businesses: hotels, bowling alleys, pubs, racecourses, theatres.
Legal Principles
Objective interpretation of insurance policies based on what a reasonable person would understand.
Financial Conduct Authority v Arch Insurance (UK) Ltd [2021] UKSC 1
Commercial common sense should inform interpretation, but not rewrite the contract.
PizzaExpress Group Ltd v Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe SE [2023] EWHC 1269 (Comm)
First instance judges should generally follow decisions of courts of coordinate jurisdiction unless convinced they are clearly wrong.
Police Authority for Huddersfield v Watson [1947] 1 KB 842; Willers v Joyce [2016] UKSC 44; Bilta (UK) Ltd v Tradition Financial Services Ltd [2023] EWCA Civ 112
Outcomes
UK government actions constituted "action by…other Statutory Authority"
The term encompasses bodies exercising powers derived from statute, not just those created by statute.
4 July 2020 Regulations did not introduce new restrictions for Hollywood Bowl.
There was a continuum of closure; no material change in restrictions.
Policy limits applied per occurrence, not per restriction or per premises (except for composite policies).
"Limit" in the schedule equated with the defined "Limit of Indemnity"; composite policies treated as separate contracts per insured.
Claimants must account for CJRS payments.
CJRS payments reduced costs payable out of gross profit; proximate cause established.
A single case of COVID-19 is not an "incident" under the Allianz policy.
"Incident" requires a manifest, observable event; government actions not considered "policing authority".
Allianz policy limits applied per premises, not per insured.
The policy's structure and language support separate claims for different premises, even if owned by the same insured.
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