Business Interruption Insurance Lawyers

Business interruption insurance is a useful way to reduce commercial risk, but it’s not always clear when and how you can claim. Our lawyers can review your policy, advise if you have a claim, and may be able to challenge insurers who’ve refused cover.

Each insurance policy has different requirements that businesses must meet before they can claim. We’ll review your policy wording to advise on these requirements and whether you meet them.

We’ll give your claim the best possible chance of success, even if you’ve been refused cover before. Our team will help you put together evidence to support the claim and communicate with your insurers to reach a settlement.

In some cases, we may also be able to challenge your insurer if they refuse to cover your business interruption. We’ll advise on your chances of success, and whether it’s the best course of action for your business.

Our dispute resolution solicitors help businesses across all industry sectors, from SMEs to international corporations. We always aim to negotiate settlements as quickly as possible, but we’re also experienced at resolving disputes at court when needed.

We know that business interruptions come with cash flow issues, and offer a wide range of funding options to help you access the legal advice you need.

Get started today – call us on 0808 271 2602 or contact us online.

How Do I Make A Business Interruption Claim?

In general, there are three main issues to consider when making a business interruption claim:

  • Check your Policy Wording – While the Courts have set out some guidance, every policy is worded differently and every business is different. Whether your policy will cover a particular loss is a matter of interpretation. We can help you with this.
  • Notification – You must tell your insurer about your claim in a particular way and within a particular timeframe depending on your policy. If you don’t, you may not be able to recover your losses.
  • Loss – You should calculate how much you think your business has lost due to the interruption and collect evidence. Normally business interruption insurance will cover loss of gross profit or rent, additional expenses, and sometimes the cost of preparing your claim. Your policy may have a maximum sum that you can claim.

Every insurance policy is different, and interruptions will impact every business differently as well. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to making a business interruption insurance claim.

Our lawyers will get to know your business and work with you to understand the commercial impact that the interruption has had. We’ll study your policy wording and explain what you need to do and advise what you may be able to claim for. We can also help challenge your insurer’s decision.

Business Interruption Insurance Advice

We understand that coronavirus has made claims both more pressing and more confusing for many businesses.

Our experts can help you navigate your business interruption insurance policy by:

  • Discussing your business and the impact of Covid-19
  • Conducting a detailed review of the policy wording
  • Advising you of the merits of your insurance claim and the best way forward.

Get started today - call us on 0808 271 2602 or contact us online.

If we think that you can claim and you want to go ahead, we can then help with your claim at an additional cost. We offer a variety of pricing and funding options, some of which allow us to share the risk with you and defer your legal costs until a later date. We’ll advise on the best options for you based on the details of your case.

Coronavirus Business Interruption Insurance Claims

An FCA test case on which the Supreme Court delivered its appeal judgment on 15 January 2021 has clarified some issues about making business interruption insurance claims in respect of losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

In general, businesses with any of the following non-damage extensions contained within their business interruption policies may be covered:

  • "Disease Clauses" which don’t contain an exhaustive list of diseases. Generally, these policies cover losses caused by a notifiable or infectious disease if that disease has occurred within a certain distance of the business’ premises
  • "Denial of Access Clauses" or "Hybrid Clauses", which are policies which cover losses resulting from the denial of access to business premises due to government actions, advice or restrictions, as a result of a notifiable infectious disease, emergency or incident, within a certain radius of those premises.

Each insurance policy is different and insurers will assess coverage on a case-by-case basis. We can check your policy wording, identify the type of cover you have, and advise what this means for your business.

For more information about how we can help with business interruption insurance claims, call us today on 0808 271 2602.

Stephanie Beckett
Stephanie Reeves Senior Associate Meet Our Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution Team
News

Business Interruption Insurance – businesses win big in The Supreme Court

On 15 January 2021, the Supreme Court handed down its highly-anticipated appeal judgment in the Financial Conduct Authority’s business interruption test case.

Senior Associate Stephanie Reeves breaks down the ruling and what it means for your business.

Read more about the Supreme Court judgement

Awards & Accreditations

We’re proud of the recognition we’ve received for our business legal work. For a list of awards and accreditations, please visit our awards page.

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Recent Work

£417m property portfolio sale for an off-shore company

Involving urgent legal issues arising out of the sell including extensive negotiations, 4 mediations, liaising with accountants on financial models, and complex drafting.

Supreme Court inheritance tax appeal

Successfully appealed an HMRC decision that IHT applied for donations from UK estates to non-EU charities.

Financial services

Representing a state affiliated bank in India in a guarantee claim against guarantors, obtaining judgments against the defendants, with a combined value of around  4 million euros.

Trademark infringement litigation in the US

Acted for an Lichtenstein entity who was pursuing a claim in the US against a household name drinks manufacturer, to get evidence from witnesses in the UK using the UK Letters of Request process.

Compensation for 350 timeshare fraud victims

Secured a £3.5m freezing order and appeared in court in Madrid to secure £10m worth of assets.

Dispute settlement for African airline

Successfully negotiated a settlement before the dispute, regarding a breach of an aircraft purchase and product support agreement.

We Work Nationally

We have offices in major cities throughout the UK and our lawyers can arrange to visit you or your business in person if necessary. We also have international capability, with global links to other legal specialists.

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Business News

Our lawyers are regularly asked to provide expert insight, advice and analysis for the national media. Take a look at the stories below to see what we’re saying, as well as some of the recent deals we have completed for our clients here in the UK and abroad.

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Testimonials & Feedback

We truly value the feedback we receive from both our clients and legal accreditation societies, such as The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners.

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"They are very responsive, very thorough, and maintain dialogue with the client as though they were part of the team."

Chambers & Partners, 2020

"Irwin Mitchell adopt a calm and considered approach to litigation, which is reassuring and sets them apart from other legal teams."

Legal 500, 2020
Legal 500 UK Leading Firm 2022

"The practice’s strength in commercial litigation is to be able to provide an expert and focused service that remains personal and client-responsive."

Legal 500, 2022