Insurers to participate in High Court test cases named

The eight insurers who will take part in High Court test cases to determine if their business interruption policies should cover losses linked to the Covid-19 pandemic have been named.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has named the insurers as it looks to the court to provide clarity for business owners and the insurance industry.

The eight insurers who will participate in the action are: Arch Insurance (UK), Argenta Syndicate Management, Ecclesiastical Insurance Office, Hiscox, MS Amlin Underwriting, QBE UK, Royal & Sun Alliance and Zurich.

The FCA said it has reviewed 500 relevant policies and identified a sample of 17 wordings that capture “the majority” of issues under dispute. A list of 17 insurers are understood to have issued policies within these wordings is below.

However, the FCA has said this list is not exhaustive and has asked all insurers to check their policy wordings against those being tested to judge if they will be impacted. The FCA expects to publish a list of all the relevant insurers and policies that may have impacted wordings in early July.

Christopher Woolard, interim chief executive of the FCA, said: “The court action we are taking is aimed at providing clarity and certainty for everyone involved in these business interruption disputes, policyholder and insurer alike. We feel it is also the quickest route to this clarity and by covering multiple policies and insurers, it will also be of most use across the market. The identification of a representative sample of policies and the agreement of insurers who underwrite them to participate in these proceedings is a major step forward in progressing the matter to court.”

The following insurers use at least one of the policy wordings:

• Allianz -American International
• Arch Insurance
• Argenta Syndicate Management
• Aspen
• Aviva
• AxA
• Chubb European
• Ecclesiastical -Hiscox
• Liberty Mutual
• MS Amlin
• Protector
• QBE
• Royal & Sun Alliance
• Zurich

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