Yesterday (Monday 28th September), marked the deadline for all parties involved in the initial proceedings of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) business interruption insurance test case to file a ‘leapfrog application’ to appeal to the Supreme Court on any aspects of the High Court’s judgement (delivered on 15th September 2020).
This morning (Tuesday 29th September), the FCA has announced that they have filed their ‘leapfrog application’, and reconfirmed their intention “to achieve clarity on affected BI policies at speed”. Despite the initial proceedings going in favour of policyholders, who the FCA represented, and the FCA believing that the High Court judgement provided clarity on business interruption insurance policies, they have filed their application on a “precautionary basis.”
The FCA has confirmed that it is continuing to work closely with the eight insurers and two interveners involved in the initial proceedings to come to an agreement in principle on a number of issues to ensure an appeal process will not be needed and that pay-outs for eligible business interruption claims would be paid by insurers as soon as possible.
Whilst it is believed that the discussions, which have taken place, have been positive and are still on-going, the FCA have filed their application in the event that an agreement isn’t reached by the close of business on Wednesday.
The FCA has also confirmed that seven of the eight insurers have also made similar “precautionary applications.”
An update regarding the business interruption insurance test case is expected soon.
How Nelsons can help
Cathryn Selby is a Partner in our Dispute Resolution team.
At Nelsons, we offer fixed fee services for those uncertain of their business interruption insurance cover and/or are looking to respond to their insurer in relation to any refused claims. For further information, please contact Cathryn or another member of our expert team in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form.