Федеральный суд обязал страховую компанию из Огайо выплатить ресторанам в Северной Каролине за отказ в покрытии убытков от пандемии

In a blistering decision, a federal judge found an Ohio insurer liable for bad faith for failing to pay pandemic-related business interruption claims to four restaurants in North Carolina, nearly two years after the insurer lost a landmark case on the same issue. Cincinnati Insurance was sued by four Durham, North Carolina, restaurants over denied claims for pandemic-related losses. In The Durham Wood Fired Pizza Company LLC v. The Cincinnati Insurance Company, Chief District Judge Catherine C. Eagles on Thursday granted summary judgment to the restaurants on liability, breach of contract, breach of implied covenant and unfair and deceptive trade practices, with a trial to follow only on damages. Chief District Judge Catherine C. Engles wrote that Cincinnati Insurance “has not explained to either the plaintiffs or the Court any basis for denying the insurance claims after” the 2024 ruling, North State Deli, LLC v. Cincinnati Insurance Co. With that ruling, the North Carolina Supreme Court became the first state high court to determine that businesses with property insurance and without a virus exclusion are entitled to business interruption losses from pandemic-related losses, despite the lack of physical loss or damage. The high court ruled that the plaintiffs, which were also restaurants, suffered a direct physical loss when they were “expressly forbidden by government decree” from accessing their property. After the ruling, the plaintiffs in the current case asked Cincinnati to reopen its claim, but Cincinnati has not made any payment, the judge wrote. Since the ruling, the insurer has “stonewalled the plaintiffs without offering any real reason for their ongoing refusal to acknowledge their coverage obligations. It made a blanket companywide decision to deny all coronavirus-related business interruption claims without conducting an individual investigation into such claims, and without changing its position at all after North State Deli.” A trial on damages is scheduled for October 26. The case was decided in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. Cincinnati Insurance Company is headquartered in Fairfield, Ohio. Cincinnati Insurance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.