Universities Hit by Covid-19 Take on Insurers Over Loss Coverage

Colleges, like many businesses, are turning to courts to compel insurers to provide coverage for coronavirus-related costs and income losses.

Four schools—Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo.; Maryville University in St. Louis; Benedictine College, near Kansas City, Kans.; and the University of St. Thomas in Houston—are the first colleges to sue their insurers after being denied coverage under their commercial liability policies.

Those complaints represent a tiny fraction of the more than 1,100 insurance cases stemming from pandemic coverage disputes. The small number of lawsuits may indicate that schools are wary of mounting legal hurdles in the pursuit of payouts, ...