Can you claim on your business interruption insurance for losses caused by COVID-19?
Do you have Business Interruption insurance?
Has your business suffered revenue losses from COVID-19 lockdowns?
Have you lodged a business interruption claim that has been rejected by your insurer?
Despite what your insurance company may have told you, you may be entitled to make a business interruption insurance claim.
In our view some Australian insurers have been wrongly rejecting claims from struggling businesses on the basis that their policies don’t cover pandemics.
How we can we help you.
We know that it can be difficult to understand what you’re covered for. A member of our team is available to assist.
We will check your policies and tell you what you are covered for and whether we think you have a claim for free.
For no cost and no obligation, please register below to get answers.
Or, you can also call our hotline on 1800 21 22 23.
Gordon Legal, a leading class action law firm, is working with specialist insurance firm Berrill & Watson for business owners who have been denied coverage.
We’re working with a range of businesses from all over Australia, from small family-owned shops to large corporations. You can help yourself by coming forward and having your policy reviewed at no cost.
QBE and Lloyds Class Actions
We have already commenced class actions against QBE and certain underwriters at Lloyds regarding their business interruption insurance policies. The class actions are funded by a litigation funder, Omni Bridgeway.
Omni Bridgeway’s finance and expertise is assisting policyholders to recover their losses under their insurance policies. Each class action is being funded as a registered management investment scheme in accordance with new funded class action regulations introduced by the Australian government in 2020. If you are an eligible affected group member in one of the class actions, you can apply to become a member of the litigation funding scheme and participate in the class action by completing and returning the Application Form which is set out in the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS). A copy of the PDS for each scheme is available on Omni Bridgeway’s website which can be accessed via Omni Bridgeway’s business interruption insurance class actions page here.
Gordon Legal and Berrill & Watson have issued class actions on behalf of persons who held business interruption insurance with QBE and Lloyds (Jewellery and Gem Merchants).
Omni Bridgeway is presently providing funding for two class actions for policyholder losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Both cases are being run jointly by Gordon Legal and Berrill & Watson.
Gordon Legal is a leading class action law firm and Berrill & Watson is a specialist insurance law firm.
Do you have QBE insurance?
If your business is insured by members of the QBE insurance group, please visit our QBE BII page for further details.
Do you have Lloyds insurance?
(Jewellery and Gem Merchants)
If you are in the jewellery and gem merchant industry and your business is insured by certain underwriters at Lloyd’s, please visit our Lloyds (Jewellery and Gem Merchants) BII page for further details.
All other Insurers
Gordon Legal and Berrill & Watson are also investigating class actions against other insurers.
If you don’t have insurance with QBE or a Lloyds Jeweler and Gem Merchant Policy, there may still be a case so register your details here and we will contact you.
More detail on the QBE and Lloyds class action can be found here:
Lloyds Business Interruption Class Action
QBE Business Interruption Class Action
More Information
If you are unsure if you have business interruption insurance, or insurance that could allow you to make a claim, register your details with us and we will get in touch.
If you are unsure about what your product disclosure statement looks like examples are here QBE Policy, Lloyds Policy, Hollard Policy, CGU Policy
An example of what an insurance policy looks like can be viewed here
What obligations will I have if I submit my policy to Gordon Legal?
After we get in touch, you can decide whether to proceed or not – there will be no obligation on you to proceed or to instruct Gordon Legal to act on your behalf, unless you want to.
You can also email us with any questions you have here: biclaims@gordonlegal.com.au.
Omni Bridgeway is the registered owner of the Omni Bridgeway trademark and that the trademark is being used with the permission of Omni Bridgeway Limited.
What is a Class Action?
A Class or Group Action is a Court procedure which allows people with similar claims against another party to bring their action in one Court Proceeding rather than requiring them to go to the cost (and take the individual risk) of commencing their own claim.
In Australia, the law provides individual Group or Class members the opportunity to Opt Out of the Proceedings if they do not wish to participate or wish to bring their own individual claim.
The benefit of Class or Group Actions is that it means that claims that would otherwise not be economically viable for a person to bring on their own behalf are able to be gathered together so that the costs and risks can be shared among a larger group of people with similar claims.
What are the risks of participating in a Class Action?
The risks of participating in a Class Action are similar to the risks that any person bringing an individual claim would face, except that the risk of having to pay the other party’s legal costs if the claim is unsuccessful only falls on the Representative Plaintiff or Applicant.
It is important to understand that you do not face the individual risk of an adverse costs order unless you agree to become the Representative Plaintiff or Applicant. If that was the case then your lawyer will discuss those risks with you very carefully before you agreed to act as the Representative Plaintiff or Applicant.
