This week the Louisiana Court of Appeal found coverage for coronavirus and COVID-19 claims by reading the actual insurance policy language and relying on long-established precedent governing the interpretation of insurance policies. Particularly, the court found that the presence of coronavirus on the insured premises that slowed down the business operations of the policyholder triggered all-risk coverage because it caused “physical loss or damage” to the policyholder’s business property. The court rejected the insurer’s arguments that coverage was not available absent (a) any physical or structural alteration to the property; (b) completely shutting down the policyholder’s business operations; and (c) rendering that property uninhabitable. The court also rejected the insurer’s argument that the policy’s “period of restoration” clause—which indicated the interruption period ends when damaged property is restored, repaired or replaced—required a physical alteration to property, holding the policyholder’s efforts to remove coronavirus by cleaning or disinfection fell within the “period of restoration.”
