From new litigation to proposed legislation, debate over whether insurers should be required to pay for business losses related to the coronavirus pandemic remain in the news.  Restaurants Sue Insurers Over Business Interruption Claims   Proprietors of more than 10 restaurants, bars, and bakeries in Washington, D.C., joined a growing list of restaurateurs seeking coverage for pandemic-related damages, .   The  interviewed Triple-I CEO  and Triple-I non-resident scholar Michael Menapace, who explained why the suits are unreasonable and threaten the insurance industry’s solvency.  “The insurance business works by spreading risk around so the industry isn’t hit all at once with claims,”  Kevelighan says.“A pandemic disrupts business far and wide, with no end date in sight.”  About 40 percent of all companies have business interruption insurance, and most policies explicitly exclude coverage for viruses and infectious diseases.  If lawmakers retroactively require carriers to pay these unplanned-for claims, it could cost the insurance industry $150 billion a month, which would quickly deplete its $800 billion surplus.  , Insurer  May 20, 2020   , May 20, 2020   Franchising.com, May 19, 2020   Forbes.com, May 19.

2020   , May 15, 2020  La.Lawmakers Scrap Business Interruption Bill Louisiana lawmakers scrapped a bill that would have forced insurers to cover retroactive business interruption claims due to COVID-19, .  However, state senators agreed to rewrite and amend Senate Bill 477 to allow a proposal requiring insurers to clarify exclusions on business interruption policies to move ahead.  The scrapping of the Louisiana proposal follows  decision by the Council of the District of Columbia not to go ahead with a proposal to force insurers to provide retroactive business interruption coverage on small-business COVID-19 claims.  , WDSU 6, New Orleans, May 19, 2020  , 4 WWL, New Orleans, May 19, 2020  , NOLA.com, May 19, 2020  Pa.Bill Would Define COVID-19 as Property Damage  The Pennsylvania Senate is weighing a bill that would include losses spurred by the COVID-19 global pandemic under property and business interruption insurance coverage,  reports.  Senate Bill 1127 doesn’t explicitly state that insurers must cover . The bill states that if a covered property is located within a municipality where “the presence of the COVID-19 coronavirus has otherwise been detected,” that property is “deemed to have experienced property damage.”  It also states that Gov.

Tom Wolf’s March 19 emergency order to close businesses is to be considered an order of civil authority under a first-party insurance policy which limits, prohibits, or restricts access to non-life-sustaining business locations “as a direct result of physical damage at or in the immediate vicinity of those locations.”   , WGAL News 8, May 20, 2020  , NBC 10 Philadelphia, May 20, 2020  , , May 19, 2020   JDSupra.com, May 19, 2020  KDKA 2, Pittsburgh, May 11, 2020  Publisher Appeals COVID-19 Ruling Denying Coverage  A magazine publisher is appealing a federal court ruling in favor of an insurer in a coronavirus-related business interruption dispute, .  In one of the first court rulings on the business interruption coverage issue, U.S.District Court Judge Valerie E. Caproni, in the Southern District of New York, said the policyholder’s attorney deserved “a gold star for creativity” but the loss was not covered under the policy issued by the unit of Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.  From the Triple-I Blog REQUIRING INSURERS TO COVER PANDEMIC-RELATED SHUTDOWNS WOULD JEOPARDIZE INDUSTRY’S SOLVENCY, EXPERTS SAY TRIPLE-I LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT RESILIENCY OF THE ECONOMY DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC WEBINAR: BUILDING RESILIENT BUSINESSES AND COMMUNITIES IN THE TIME OF COVID-19 U.S.TREASURY WEIGHS IN ON DEBATE SURROUNDING BUSINESS INTERRUPTION INSURANCE WORKERS COMP, LIABILITY NEXT UP FOR VIRUS-RELATED INSURANCE DISPUTES