Konrad von Carstein Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 6 minutes ago, highlandjambo3 said: On another COVID related issue........ I lost around £15k in bookings over the first lockdown but, not to worry, I have “business interruption” insurance from direct line so I’m covered right? Wrong.......direct lines stance was COVID 19 was not on their lost of notifiable diseases so, they were not obliged to pay out. Telling them that COVID 19 was a brand new disease so it couldn’t possibly be on their list didn’t wash.......rats. So, imagine your roof was blown off by a typhoon then your insurance company says your only covered for gales, storms and strong winds but not typhoons........that’s what it feels like. Id be appealing to whichever body regulates them... Although if your policy doesn't mention pandemic they may be correct, the sly rats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Lithuania Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 Also, didn’t take long for the crazy people to show up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Gin Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 Great, Captain Conspiracy is back and this time he's drunk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 (edited) 20 minutes ago, highlandjambo3 said: On another COVID related issue........ I lost around £15k in bookings over the first lockdown but, not to worry, I have “business interruption” insurance from direct line so I’m covered right? Wrong.......direct lines stance was COVID 19 was not on their lost of notifiable diseases so, they were not obliged to pay out. Telling them that COVID 19 was a brand new disease so it couldn’t possibly be on their list didn’t wash.......rats. So, imagine your roof was blown off by a typhoon then your insurance company says your only covered for gales, storms and strong winds but not typhoons........that’s what it feels like. Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately Direct Lines stance is fairly normal. Business Interruption insurance is a two word heading not a catch all. There are lots of things that can interrupt a business that are not insured. At its basic Business Interruption insurance covers lost business following damage to property. E.g. Fire, Flood, Storm etc (there is no distinction between types of winds). Beyond this basic cover some policies cover other things. The policy cover is extended, so the extra covers as referred to as extensions. One of these on your Direct Line policy seems to be cover for notifiable diseases. As you say this is limited certain diseases and most likely they will need to actually occur at your premises. Edited January 29, 2021 by Candy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highlandjambo3 Posted January 29, 2021 Author Share Posted January 29, 2021 1 hour ago, Candy said: Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately Direct Lines stance is fairly normal. Business Interruption insurance is a two word heading not a catch all. There are lots of things that can interrupt a business that are not insured. At its basic Business Interruption insurance covers lost business following damage to property. E.g. Fire, Flood, Storm etc (there is no distinction between types of winds). Beyond this basic cover some policies cover other things. The policy cover is extended, so the extra covers as referred to as extensions. One of these on your Direct Line policy seems to be cover for notifiable diseases. As you say this is limited certain diseases and most likely they will need to actually occur at your premises. There may be a chink of light as a couple of weeks back the Supreme Court (In England) overruled some insurers decisions not to pay out.........direct line may be told to do the same https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55661702 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 Just now, highlandjambo3 said: There may be a chink of light as a couple of weeks back the Supreme Court (In England) overruled some insurers decisions not to pay out.........direct line may be told to do the same https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55661702 That's highly unlikely I'm afraid. There were 8 insurers involved in the case and Direct Line were not one of them. Whilst the judgement will be influential beyond those insurers and their policy wordings, if your cover is for named diseases only that's not going to change. Relatively few businesses will actually get anything. Sorry 😞 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CavySlaveJambo Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 4 hours ago, highlandjambo3 said: On another COVID related issue........ I lost around £15k in bookings over the first lockdown but, not to worry, I have “business interruption” insurance from direct line so I’m covered right? Wrong.......direct lines stance was COVID 19 was not on their lost of notifiable diseases so, they were not obliged to pay out. Telling them that COVID 19 was a brand new disease so it couldn’t possibly be on their list didn’t wash.......rats. Haven't the UK Supreme Court just heard a case on this. And ruled against the insurance comapnies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highlandjambo3 Posted January 29, 2021 Author Share Posted January 29, 2021 9 minutes ago, CavySlaveJambo said: Haven't the UK Supreme Court just heard a case on this. And ruled against the insurance comapnies? Yes they have however, the test case was against around 8 or so insurance companies (not sure the exact figure) who took that stance and were subsequently overruled by the Supreme Court. I’ve contacted Direct line since this overruling and they are sticking by their guns stating COVID 19 was not listed as a specific virus, although behind the scenes they might possibly be concerned now. My hope is the high court ruling may be forced against all insurers......or at least to make some sort of goodwill gesture. I have business interruption insurance, my business was interrupted to the tune of £15k (which I can prove), I’m fuming about this......not even a token offer of compensation. I’ve been paying them business insurance for 12 years, never made a single claim, paid £500 this month to renew the policy as well........rats the lot of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 11 minutes ago, highlandjambo3 said: Yes they have however, the test case was against around 8 or so insurance companies (not sure the exact figure) who took that stance and were subsequently overruled by the Supreme Court. I’ve contacted Direct line since this overruling and they are sticking by their guns stating COVID 19 was not listed as a specific virus, although behind the scenes they might possibly be concerned now. My hope is the high court ruling may be forced against all insurers......or at least to make some sort of goodwill gesture. I have business interruption insurance, my business was interrupted to the tune of £15k (which I can prove), I’m fuming about this......not even a token offer of compensation. I’ve been paying them business insurance for 12 years, never made a single claim, paid £500 this month to renew the policy as well........rats the lot of them. I know that you won't want to hear any of this, but hopefully you will take the following information in the informative spirit it's intended No one will doubt that your business has been impacted and that you could quantify it, but as mentioned previously, insurance doesn't cover every single thing that can disrupt your trading. It was 8 insurers that the case was brought against. They never purposefully set out to cover the impact of a pandemic, but their wordings were ambiguous and successfully challenged. From what you've said your policy is not ambiguous - it clearly lists what's covered. That being the case there is no likelihood that Direct Line will be compelled to do anything different. I'd also abandon all hope of compensation as they've not actually done anything wrong. The vast majority of businesses will be in the same position as you. I hope that you can recover from it in the fullness of time. As I say...don't shoot the messenger. Just trying to give you an informed view on the situation.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CavySlaveJambo Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 3 hours ago, highlandjambo3 said: Yes they have however, the test case was against around 8 or so insurance companies (not sure the exact figure) who took that stance and were subsequently overruled by the Supreme Court. I’ve contacted Direct line since this overruling and they are sticking by their guns stating COVID 19 was not listed as a specific virus, although behind the scenes they might possibly be concerned now. My hope is the high court ruling may be forced against all insurers......or at least to make some sort of goodwill gesture. It is being used by the financial ombudsmen from now on and also cases are pending in Scotland and N Ireland that were probably waiting for the Supreme Court case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ri Alban Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 16 hours ago, jack D and coke said: The **** do you smoke man? He's brilliant sometimes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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