SXSW Makes Rare Appeal of Insurance Loss Over Covid Cancellation

South by Southwest is set to challenge a Chubb Ltd. insurance unit’s refusal to pay for the festival’s Covid-era cancellation, bringing an unusual appeal with broad implications for companies’ directors and officers policies.

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Thursday will hear arguments from festival organizer, SXSW LLC, and its carrier over who must foot the legal bill in a class action alleging SXSW wrongly withheld customers’ ticket payments after the festival was canceled in 2020. The tech, music, and film festival is typically held each year in Austin.

The dispute is the first D&O insurance case ...