TRENTON, N.J. (AP) – The New Jersey Supreme Court will consider whether an Atlantic City casino can receive payment from business interruption insurance for losses during the coronavirus outbreak, adding pandemic coverage It could provide guidance to policyholders across the country regarding coverage. Related Losses.
The state Superior Court is scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by the owners of Ocean Casino Resort, which had $50 million in business interruption insurance before the 2020 virus outbreak.
Three insurance companies, AIG Specialty Insurance Company, American Guaranty & Liability Insurance Company, and Interstate Fire & Casualty Company, said they would not be responsible for any direct physical loss or damage caused by the virus. The company denied most of the compensation to casinos, saying that there was no such compensation.
The casino sued and defeated the insurance company’s attempt to have the case dismissed. However, this decision was reversed by the Court of Appeal.
The issue is playing out in state and federal courts across the country, including a case involving a California movie theater chain that refused to pay. A real estate company in Los Angeles. A Pennsylvania hotel group, a New Jersey hotel group and a law firm.
“This case raises a generational legal dispute and provides needed clarity for hundreds of thousands of affected New Jersey policyholders and their insurers regarding coverage for losses arising from the pandemic. “This court should resolve this matter in order to ensure that this matter is resolved,” Ocean said in court documents.
Last year, the Supreme Court agreed to resolve some questions about the case.
They include whether a claim that the coronavirus caused physical damage to insured property is sufficient to claim “direct physical loss or damage” to insured property; or whether coverage for pandemic-related losses can be legally limited by reference to the virus in the “contamination” exclusion. .
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy issued an executive order in March 2020 closing casinos until early July 2020 due to the pandemic.
The casino requested payment for losses incurred during that period based on the policies of the three insurance companies.
“The actual presence of, and/or the threat of, coronavirus particles at Ocean Casino Resort may result in physical property on the premises being damaged, rendered unusable, uninhabitable, unfit for its intended function, unsafe and unsafe. ” the casino said in court documents.
United Policyholders, an advocacy group for insurance customers, is asking the judge to rule in favor of the casinos in a friend-of-the-court brief.
“The ruling sought here (insurance companies) would reduce coverage for millions of New Jersey policyholders,” the newspaper wrote. “Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the insurance industry as a whole had no understanding of the presence or imminent risk of the presence of viruses or hazardous materials on insured properties. I understood that it was possible to fulfill the “meaning of “insurance””. “Property damage.”
___
Follow Wayne Parry on X (formerly Twitter) at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC
Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
