Business interruption (BI) insurance can be taken out as ‘standalone’ insurance or as an extension of an existing policy, normally against payment of an additional premium.

Following SARS, most insurers and reinsurers started excluding loss arising out of national epidemics from BI policies. The exclusion is usually by reference to quarantinable diseases notified under the Quarantine Act 1908, which was repealed and replaced by the Biosecurity Act 2015, under which COVID-19 is a ‘listed human disease’. While most policies have been updated, some still refer to the Quarantine Act and subsequent amendments.

In addition, most BI policies also require that businesses have been closed or evacuated by order of a public authority rather than as a precautionary measure. Cover is unlikely to apply to businesses which shut their doors voluntarily due to restrictions on public gatherings or lack of trade.

However, some policies do contain extensions for business interruption losses caused by human infectious disease where the outbreak occurs on the business premises or within a particular radius.

Join us as the panel discusses the issues arising from the BI test cases and appeal to the High Court of Australia and what this means for insurers, loss adjusters and wider community.

The panel will discuss:

• How insurers process claims efficiently and fairly.
• Causation issues and whether the loss was caused due to a state or federal business closure, or lockdown.
• Physical damages and whether premises closures were due to a positive case.
• How to determine the impact and value of the loss – taking the JobKeeper subsidy and savings on variable expenses into consideration.
• What the future looks like.

Register for the event.