Hospitality businesses urged to provide details of insurance policy wording ‘without delay’

As the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) prepares to file its action in the High Court to seek clarification on the interpretation of business interruption policy wording, businesses have been urged to “act without delay” to provide details of their policy wording.

The FCA released an update yesterday that identified the representative sample of policy wordings to be examined in the test case, as well as the insurers who have agreed to be involved in the action. It has given policy holders until 3pm on Friday 5 June to comment on the representative sample.

Policy holders in the sector who have had their business interruption claims rejected have been urged to check the wording of their policies against the FCA's sample, to ensure their wording is captured in the test case and the interests of the sector are fully represented. They have also been asked to provide details of any policy wording that might fall outside of the FCA’s 17 representative samples, announced on Monday.

Trade association UKHospitality, which is already supporting Black and White Hospitality’s crowdfunding venture to have hospitality cases reviewed for challenge, has also partnered with law firm Taylor Wessing in relation to the FCA action.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said: “We now have a final sprint towards the deadline, to make sure that hospitality’s insurance plight is properly heard. A central ask of UKH’s #Fair4Hospitality campaign is a resolution to insurance claims. With the support of leading law firm, Taylor Wessing, and Black & White Hospitality, we are urging all hospitality businesses to get in touch, so the industry's voice is heard and any relevant wording not covered by the proposed test case is included.”

Rob Atkinson, lawyer at Black & White Hospitality, said: “We have been deluged with policies but now have this last chance to widen the scope of the court action – I urge any hospitality business that thinks it has a relevant policy to send it to us.”

Richard Bursby, partner at Taylor Wessing, added: “The FCA’s process for this action is moving at warp speed. This is necessary so that policy holders can quickly understand their position once the court clarifies some of the key issues around what is covered. The FCA are aiming for a hearing in mid-July. However, policy holders have just days to review their policies against the FCA's representative sample.”

If your claim has been rejected, check your policy against the FCA's representative sample here and if you feel that yours should be included in the FCA's test case, or for more information, please email cv19@ukhospitality.org.uk with details.

Photo: Shutterstock

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