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Apr.12.2021
Courts Dismiss COVID-19 Business Interruption Claims
On April 9, 2021, the district court for the Central District of California granted Topa Insurance Company’s motion to dismiss a restaurant and nightclub’s COVID-19 related claim. According to the court, the policy “clearly condition[ed] recovery on physical loss or damage to the insured premises” (Order at 5), and the complaint alleged only that the coronavirus “prevented it from using its property for” its intended purpose, which is not enough to “allege direct physical loss or damage.”
Id. at 6. The court held that “even if the Policy covered permanent dispossession, which it does not, Caribe has not alleged permanent dispossession, nor could it, as COVID-19 safety orders only temporarily restricted Caribe’s use of its premises.”