5 January 2021, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in The Financial Conduct Authority v Arch and Others: how the law has changed in light of the judgment and looks at certain practical issues that policyholders may need to consider going forward.
On 15 January 2021, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in
The Financial Conduct Authority v Arch and Others. Our alert of 19 January 2021 considered the implications of the judgment for policyholders seeking to claim for business interruption losses inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The judgment represents the final word on the issues considered in the test case and is generally helpful to policyholders with non-damage business interruption coverage extensions. However, as noted in this alert, the judgment left some issues unresolved, particularly in relation to certain coverage clauses and how claims should be quantified. In relation to those issues that were decided, the judgment is likely to have wider implications for English insurance law generally. In particular, the Supreme Court considered issues of causation and trends clauses in far greater detail than the High Court judgment (for which see our alert of 22 September 2020. This alert briefly considers how the law
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COVID-19: Insurance - The UK Supreme Court Judgment Brings Positive News for Policyholders in FCA s Business Interruption Test Case Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Background to the Test Case
Following a four day hearing in November 2020, the UK Supreme Court has handed down the appeal judgment in the test case brought by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on behalf of UK based small and medium enterprises (SMEs) seeking clarity on the coverage provided by certain extensions of cover for COVID-19 related business interruption losses (The Financial Conduct Authority v Arch and Others). The test case related to the interpretation of certain Disease Clauses, Prevention of Access and so-called Hybrid Clauses, and whether or not they provide insurance cover under English law for business interruption losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and related measures taken by UK authorities. Further information on the High Court judgment can be found in our alert