Last modified on Fri 15 Jan 2021 13.53 EST
The guesthouse owner
Gary Lovatt, who runs the five-bedroom Laurel Bank guesthouse in Keswick in the Lake District, said he was “very happy” with the supreme court verdict, and “reasonably confident” he would now get a payout from his insurer.
Lovatt had tried to claim between £10,000 and £15,000 on his insurance policy after he was forced to close, but said he did not get very far because of his insurer’s “computer says no” approach.
Gary Lovatt. Photograph: FSB
Asked how much income he had lost, the 61-year-old said it was more than 50%.
He said that for a lot of small businesses, the loss of cashflow is a huge issue. “They haven’t got the resources that the large companies [have].”
Initial Reactions to UK Supreme Court’s Ruling on Business Interruption Claims
Insurers, policyholders and industry observers have issued comments on the UK Supreme Court’s ruling that insurers should pay small businesses for many business interruption claims from the COVID-19 lockdowns.
The UK Supreme Court dismissed appeals by six insurers – Hiscox, RSA, QBE, Argenta, Arch and MS Amline – determining that “many thousands of policyholders will now have their claims for coronavirus-related business interruption losses paid.” The insurers had argued that business interruption policies contained pandemic exclusions and should not be covered. No further appeals will be allowed.
The full judgment is available on the Supreme Court website.
Insurers told to pay small businesses for lockdown losses MANY small businesses will receive insurance payouts covering losses from the first national lockdown, following a ruling from the Supreme Court. It will pave the way to insurance payouts on claims for coronavirus-related disruption, for those with business interruption insurance policies. The Supreme Court ruled largely in favour of an appeal by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) following widespread concern over the lack of clarity and certainty for firms seeking to cover substantial losses incurred by the pandemic and first national lockdown. The Federation of Small Businesses welcomed the ruling, saying many firms had been left in financial limbo over the past year.