Business Interuption Insurance

dancer19

Hi All, Received a letter today from Woodgate & Clark saying they have been asked in light of legal developments, to re-look at my business interruption insurance claim, which was denied in 2020. They have asked me to provide dates when I was told to close and the date I was allowed to re-open.. No problem, but then they want me to provide the following:
Details of the manifestation of COVID-19 at the Premises with supporting evidence you have available

To prove a manifestation of COVID-19 at the Premises, the evidence needs to be contemporaneous i.e. have been created at the time the person was unwell and around the time that the Premises were closed, showing that:

1. For proof of attendance:

A person attended the Premises while they were infected with COVID-19 between 1) [5 March 2020 for the first lockdown and up to 3 weeks before the other lockdown(s) or restrictions imposed, and (2) the closure of the Premises due to the Government lockdown or imposition of restrictions on the Premises (“The Date Range”).

Examples of evidence of attendance which will be accepted include:

• dated CCTV footage, video clips or photo(s) showing the customers at the Premises,

• dated purchase receipts or other proof of payment,

• contemporaneous social media posts, WhatsApps, text messages or emails from individuals referring to their attendance at your premises within the Date Range

• a date stamped staff rota showing attendance at the premises during the Date Range

• Any other contemporaneous documentation showing attendance

And

1. For proof of manifestation of COVID-19:

Either

A) that a person received medical advice or treatment for COVID-19 whilst at the Premises, which may include a medical report saying they have COVID-19, hospitalisation or ambulance reports, or a medical record showing, for example, a prescription for steroids or antibiotics used to treat COVID-19Or

that a person was diagnosed by means of a positive COVID-19 test they took whilst at the Premises (for example date stamped photo of test, screenshot from the NHS evidencing positive test)

Or

C) that a person exhibited symptoms which were common to COVID-19 (such as new and persistent cough, shortness of breath, loss or change of sense of smell or taste) when they were at the Premises and made a statement about it at the time stating when symptoms began, for example, by email or social media post describing symptoms common to COVID-19 or stating they had or thought they had COVID-19.

A statement or testimony from a customer, employee, contractor, volunteer or similar, who attended your property at the times indicated above will be helpful but their statement will need to be accompanied by some form of documentation that was created within the Date Range, which demonstrates attendance at the Premises and an occurrence of COVID-19.

Has anyone else had this and how 5 years on do they expect anyone to have these details of people that came into your nightclub..... Any suggestions

 

user1977

I think we'll need more info - given the reference to 5 March is this a claim in relation to a closure prior to the mandatory lockdown on 23 March?

SiliconChip

user1977 said:

I think we'll need more info - given the reference to 5 March is this a claim in relation to a closure prior to the mandatory lockdown on 23 March?

I think the "[5 March" may be a typo, although what it should have said is unclear given that the sensible date would indeed be 23 March and it's hard to mistype that as [5.

DullGreyGuy

What was your prior claim for?  Just for being closed during the formal/widespread lock downs or was your venue closed due to people testing positive having been in the venue? 

dancer19

My claim originally was because I was forced to close my business on 23rd March 2020, this claim they refused. I had no further comunication from them until I received this last week.

dancer19

DullGreyGuy said:

What was your prior claim for?  Just for being closed during the formal/widespread lock downs or was your venue closed due to people testing positive having been in the venue? 

Closed during widespread lockdown

user1977

In that case what they've said doesn't make much sense, as they're talking about evidence of somebody being infected prior to the date you were obliged to cease trading?

dancer19

user1977 said:

In that case what they've said doesn't make much sense, as they're talking about evidence of somebody being infected prior to the date you were obliged to cease trading?

I agree but it's more that how do they expect me to have the infomation of a customer attending my nightclub 5 years ago with CCTV footage surely this can not be  right.

user1977

We haven't seen your policy, but are they actually saying they'll cover your losses as long as you prove somebody infected was on the premises prior to lockdown?

It's obviously nonsense for them to ask for contemporary evidence of a positive test, before the tests were even available!

dancer19

user1977 said:

We haven't seen your policy, but are they actually saying they'll cover your losses as long as you prove somebody infected was on the premises prior to lockdown?

It's obviously nonsense for them to ask for contemporary evidence of a positive test, before the tests were even available!

Yes it is saying they will pay if I have evidence

user1977

dancer19 said:

user1977 said:

We haven't seen your policy, but are they actually saying they'll cover your losses as long as you prove somebody infected was on the premises prior to lockdown?

It's obviously nonsense for them to ask for contemporary evidence of a positive test, before the tests were even available!

Yes it is saying they will pay if I have evidence

Well I suppose you can see if anybody remembers being symptomatic during that time and see what statements or other evidence you can pull together.

Are you comfortable that the insurers aren't otherwise obliged to pay out?