BBusiness owners who had to close during the Corona lockdown and are therefore still arguing with their insurance company should be looking forward to Karlsruhe on Wednesday (9:00 a.m.). The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) clarifies for other cases whether a so-called business closure insurance must at least partially pay for the damage. In this specific case, it is about a hotel in Hamelin.
Whether the insurance company has to pay depends on the agreed insurance conditions. There is already a BGH judgment from January 2022 on a variant that was used in many contracts. Here the diseases that can lead to an officially ordered closure were listed individually – and Covid-19 was not among them. Those affected therefore receive no money.
In the variant that is at issue now, the insurance conditions only referred to the diseases mentioned in the Infection Protection Act. Covid-19 was recorded there on May 23, 2020. The Higher Regional Court of Celle had therefore decided that the hotel was not entitled to money from the insurance company for a closure from March 2020, but for a second closure from November 2020. The BGH now has the last word and may announce its verdict immediately after the hearing. (Az. IV ZR 465/21)
