Lawyers suing an insurance company that sold “business interruption” coverage due to infectious diseases, but denied many COVID-19 claims, is appealing to policyholders to join the class action claim, says Blacklock’s Reporter..Lawyers Monday made a call to policyholders at Aviva Insurance Company of Canada to join a $300 million lawsuit over pandemic claims..“All we want is for Aviva to honour its insurance policy,” lawyers with Thomson Rogers LLP said in a statement..Counsel Robert Ben said Ontario Superior Court should “expedite the timetable.”.“This is a case of real people suffering real harm in real time,” he said..“Businesses that contacted us showed losses ranging from $18,000 to in excess of $1.6 million.”.Some 28,000 business owners bought Aviva policies with “business interruption” coverage for lost income as a result of the “order of a civil authority resulting from an outbreak of a contagious or infectious disease that is required by law to be reported to government authorities,” according to lawyers..Aviva denied most claims, and sent a notice to brokers that read: “As the Covid-19 virus itself does not constitute direct physical loss or damage to property, coverage does not apply.”.Ben said policyholders paid thousands of dollars for the coverage..“Often premiums are based on business revenues,” he said. “It would be possible to pay tens of thousands of dollars for that coverage.”.Nordik Windows Inc. of Mississauga, Ont., the lead plaintiff in the case, argued it lost income after the Ontario cabinet issued a March 17, 2020 order stating essential workplaces including window factories should “continue to function to the full extent possible subject to the advice and recommendation of public health authorities including their recommendations about the importance of physical distancing.”.Superior Court was told Nordik employees were “basically on top of each other” in the small factory. The company shut down for six weeks as staff unbolted equipment to enforce physical distancing rules, changed electrical wiring and reinstalled vacuuming equipment..“Four employers spent about a month and-a-half on the reconfiguration,” wrote the court..Aviva was one of the few insurers to sell “business interruption” coverage due to infectious diseases. The Court fully certified the class action lawsuit, allowing it to go to trial..“There is at least some evidence that some portion of the business interruption losses sustained by Nordik Windows was caused by an ‘order of civil authority,’” wrote Justice Edward Belobaba..Belobaba cited data from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business that said pandemic lockdowns and public health orders cost businesses billions of dollars..“More than 239,000 businesses could vanish because of Covid-19,” he said..The Federation on August 31 estimated business losses at $139 billion nationwide..A Federation report, Small Business Debt: The Covid-19 Impact, said debts in the hospitality sector averaged $333,174 per operator, compared to an average $160,985 for retailers, $141,754 for contractors and $93,265 for wholesalers.
Lawyers suing an insurance company that sold “business interruption” coverage due to infectious diseases, but denied many COVID-19 claims, is appealing to policyholders to join the class action claim, says Blacklock’s Reporter..Lawyers Monday made a call to policyholders at Aviva Insurance Company of Canada to join a $300 million lawsuit over pandemic claims..“All we want is for Aviva to honour its insurance policy,” lawyers with Thomson Rogers LLP said in a statement..Counsel Robert Ben said Ontario Superior Court should “expedite the timetable.”.“This is a case of real people suffering real harm in real time,” he said..“Businesses that contacted us showed losses ranging from $18,000 to in excess of $1.6 million.”.Some 28,000 business owners bought Aviva policies with “business interruption” coverage for lost income as a result of the “order of a civil authority resulting from an outbreak of a contagious or infectious disease that is required by law to be reported to government authorities,” according to lawyers..Aviva denied most claims, and sent a notice to brokers that read: “As the Covid-19 virus itself does not constitute direct physical loss or damage to property, coverage does not apply.”.Ben said policyholders paid thousands of dollars for the coverage..“Often premiums are based on business revenues,” he said. “It would be possible to pay tens of thousands of dollars for that coverage.”.Nordik Windows Inc. of Mississauga, Ont., the lead plaintiff in the case, argued it lost income after the Ontario cabinet issued a March 17, 2020 order stating essential workplaces including window factories should “continue to function to the full extent possible subject to the advice and recommendation of public health authorities including their recommendations about the importance of physical distancing.”.Superior Court was told Nordik employees were “basically on top of each other” in the small factory. The company shut down for six weeks as staff unbolted equipment to enforce physical distancing rules, changed electrical wiring and reinstalled vacuuming equipment..“Four employers spent about a month and-a-half on the reconfiguration,” wrote the court..Aviva was one of the few insurers to sell “business interruption” coverage due to infectious diseases. The Court fully certified the class action lawsuit, allowing it to go to trial..“There is at least some evidence that some portion of the business interruption losses sustained by Nordik Windows was caused by an ‘order of civil authority,’” wrote Justice Edward Belobaba..Belobaba cited data from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business that said pandemic lockdowns and public health orders cost businesses billions of dollars..“More than 239,000 businesses could vanish because of Covid-19,” he said..The Federation on August 31 estimated business losses at $139 billion nationwide..A Federation report, Small Business Debt: The Covid-19 Impact, said debts in the hospitality sector averaged $333,174 per operator, compared to an average $160,985 for retailers, $141,754 for contractors and $93,265 for wholesalers.
