The Supreme Court has revealed its judgement for the appeal of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s test case on business interruption insurance relating to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown will be handed down on this Friday, (January 15).
The judgement will be available to view live via the Supreme Court website.
The judgement follows a four day hearing that began on November 16 after six insurers, Arch Insurance, Argenta, Hiscox, MS Amlin, RSA, and QBE UK and a policyholder action group joined the FCA on the appeal, which seeks clarification as to whether policy wordings cover the business interruption caused by the nationwide coronavirus lockdown last March.
Litigation which involves an estimated 370,000 policyholders was fast tracked through the courts, who, due to alleged complicated wording, are uncertain whether they are entitled to make a claim for business interruption owing to Covid-19. The regulator and the insurance industry are seeking guidance from the court on the wording of key policies.
It is “probably the most important insurance decision of the last decade”, according to the FCA. Following a High Court decision in September, the case was fast-tracked straight to the Supreme Court, where an appeal was heard in November
