Zurich Owes Coverage for Eateries’ Covid-19 Losses, Judge Says (1)

Zurich American Insurance Co. became one of the first insurers to lose a business interruption case related to Covid-19 when a federal judge found that government-issued shutdown orders triggered coverage for a group of affiliated restaurants.

Zurich owes the restaurants payouts for their “significant” pandemic-related financial losses, after Judge Dan A. Polster of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio found Tuesday that the orders caused the eateries physical loss or damage.

The ruling comes roughly three months after a North Carolina state court ruled against Cincinnati Insurance Co. in what’s believed to be the first outright ...