Minor league baseball teams are the latest to sue insurance companies for failing to pay business interruption insurance. According to a USA Today news report, like thousands of other companies across the country, these teams and their vendors believe they are entitled to a payout because they dutifully paid insurance premiums and could not have foreseen the nationwide shutdown.
Payouts Denied
However, the insurance companies don’t agree that they should pay because they say no physical damage has been done to property such as damage that might have occurred after a flood or hurricane. Insurance companies point to clauses in contracts that state that losses caused by viruses are not covered. Many companies across the country from bars and restaurants to daycare centers and gyms, have been unwilling to take these denials as the last word and are suing their insurance companies. Insurance companies are getting ready to defend these lawsuits.
As USA Today reports, 50 minor league baseball teams and their vendors are just the latest to sue. They say it’s not the coronavirus that ended their season, but the MLB. They say the teams are unable to play because they are not getting their players from the MLB and they call it “classic business interruption” that is no different from cases after 9/11, Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Katrina.
One team owner said he has paid business interruption insurance faithfully for 35 years. Like many other business owners, the owners of these teams have been paying these premiums hoping they won’t need it. But, now they are are frustrated by the fact that insurance companies won’t pay for the damages caused.
Seeking Justice and Compensation
Restaurant owners such as Wolfgang Puck have taken charge of going after insurance companies. Many have said that it was not the virus that put them out of business, but actions taken by the government to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
The California personal injury lawyers of Bisnar Chase have been taking on these cases and are determined to fight on behalf of businesses, which have faithfully paid their premiums for years but are now being stonewalled when they need the money the most. Our local economies depend on these businesses getting back on their feet and continuing to thrive. We will do our part to help ensure that happens.
/www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/07/08/covid-19-losses-should-born-insurers-baseball-teams-say/5383892002/
