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About 14 months after the Willis Tower sustained an estimated $110 million in damage from a massive flood, the skyscraper’s insurance company has gone to court to force the city of Chicago and local sewer district to cover some of the clean-up cost.
A lawsuit filed by Travelers Property Casualty Company of America alleges that the city and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago are responsible for the flooding at the building during storms in May 2020 that dropped more than 8 inches of rain on the city, overwhelming its sewers. The Chicago River overflowed its banks on May 17, and the reclamation district opened up the locks near Navy Pier, allowing the floodwater to flow out into Lake Michigan.
A Colorado federal court relieved the Travelers Indemnity Company of America and Travelers Property Casualty Company of America of any obligation to defend or indemnify two putative.
Russell McCall s, Inc. and
Travelers Property Casualty Company of America: Notice Of Removal From Civil District Court For The Parish Of Orleans, Case Number 2020-7548 (filing Fee $ 402 Receipt Number Alaedc-8860909) Filed By Progressive Security Insurance Company. (attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Exhibit)attorney Brock Logan Wimberley Added To Party Progressive Security Insurance Company(pty:dft).(wimberley, Brock) Amendment/Supplement To Document By Progressive Security Insurance Company Re 1 Notice Of Removal, Exhibit 1 (attachments: # 1 Exhibit)(wimberley, Brock) Amendment/Supplement To Document By Progressive Security Insurance Company Re 1 Notice Of Removal, Exhibit 2 (attachments: # 1 Exhibit)(wimberley, Brock) Amendment/Supplement To Document By Progressive Security Insurance Company Re 1 Notice Of Removal, Exhibit 3 (attachments: # 1 Exhibit, # 2 Exhibit, # 3 Exhibit)(wimberley, Brock)
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.”