{"id":898918,"date":"2021-07-07T15:27:04","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T21:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=898918"},"modified":"2021-07-07T15:27:07","modified_gmt":"2021-07-07T21:27:07","slug":"insurance-coverage-covid-19-ruling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/insurance-coverage-covid-19-ruling\/","title":{"rendered":"Insurer Prevails in First Substantive Appellate Ruling in COVID-19-Related Insurance Coverage Litigation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Andrew Daechsel | <a href=\"https:\/\/propertycasualtyfocus.com\/insurer-prevails-in-first-substantive-appellate-ruling-in-covid-19-related-insurance-coverage-litigation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">PropertyCasualtyFocus<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In what appears to be the first substantive appellate ruling in COVID-19-related insurance coverage litigation, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in\u00a0<em>Oral Surgeons, P.C. v. Cincinnati Insurance Co.<\/em>\u00a0ruled in favor of the insurer and affirmed the trial court\u2019s order of dismissal under Iowa law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The plaintiff in&nbsp;<em>Oral Surgeons<\/em>, a dental practice, allegedly sustained financial losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related government orders that temporarily restricted the plaintiff from providing non-emergency dental procedures. The plaintiff sought coverage for its alleged losses under a policy that provided coverage for lost business income and certain extra expense sustained due to the suspension of operations \u201ccaused by direct \u2018loss\u2019 to property.\u201d The policy defined \u201closs\u201d as \u201caccidental physical loss or accidental physical damage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Eighth Circuit held that the policy did not provide coverage because there had been no direct physical loss or damage to property. The Eighth Circuit explained: \u201cThe policy here clearly requires direct \u2018physical loss\u2019 or \u2018physical damage\u2019 to trigger business interruption and extra expense coverage. Accordingly, there must be some physicality to the loss or damage of property \u2014 e.g., a physical alteration, physical contamination, or physical destruction. The policy cannot reasonably be interpreted to cover mere loss of use when the insured\u2019s property has suffered no physical loss or damage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The court further noted that \u201c[t]he unambiguous requirement that the loss or damage be physical in nature accords with the policy\u2019s coverage of lost business income and incurred extra expense during the \u2018period of restoration.\u2019\u201d The policy defined the \u201cperiod of restoration\u201d as beginning at the time of \u201closs\u201d and ending on the earlier of: \u201c(1) the date when the property at the \u2018premises\u2019 should be repaired, rebuilt or replaced with reasonable speed and similar quality; or (2) the date when business is resumed at a new permanent location.\u201d The Eighth Circuit explained: \u201cThat the policy provides coverage until property \u2018should be repaired, rebuilt or replaced\u2019 or until business resumes elsewhere assumes physical alteration of the property, not mere loss of use.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In ruling in favor of the insurer, the Eighth Circuit rejected the plaintiff\u2019s argument that \u201cthe policy\u2019s disjunctive definition of \u2018loss\u2019 as \u2018physical loss\u2019 or \u2018physical damage\u2019 creates an ambiguity that must be construed against [the insurer].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The court concluded by pronouncing: \u201cThe policy clearly does not provide coverage for [the plaintiff\u2019s] partial loss of use of its offices, absent a showing of direct physical loss or physical damage. \u2018[W]here no ambiguity exists, we will not write a new policy to impose liability on the insurer.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Andrew Daechsel | PropertyCasualtyFocus In what appears to be the first substantive appellate ruling in COVID-19-related insurance coverage litigation, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in\u00a0Oral Surgeons, P.C. v. Cincinnati Insurance Co.\u00a0ruled in favor of the insurer and affirmed the trial court\u2019s order of dismissal under Iowa law. The plaintiff in&nbsp;Oral Surgeons, a dental practice,&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/insurance-coverage-covid-19-ruling\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Insurer Prevails in First Substantive Appellate Ruling in COVID-19-Related Insurance Coverage Litigation<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9914],"tags":[9895,11113,23],"class_list":["post-898918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insurance-coverage","tag-advise-consult","tag-covid-19","tag-insurance-coverage","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Insurer Prevails in First Substantive Appellate Ruling in COVID-19-Related Insurance Coverage Litigation - Advise &amp; 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