Although he had taken out insurance against business closures due to infection, an innkeeper from Neustadt does not receive any compensation for his corona-related loss of sales. That was decided by the Frankenthal Regional Court and informed about it on Wednesday. Whether an insurance company has to pay for the consequences of Corona depends in each individual case on the exact wording of the insurance conditions, according to the judges. If this payment only provides for certain diseases and pathogens listed by name in the text break out, the coronavirus must be mentioned in the list. Otherwise the policyholder is not entitled to any insurance benefits.
It all depends on the exact formulation
A few years ago, the operator of the restaurant and guest house had taken out business closure insurance to protect against infection-related business closures. In his insurance, the plaintiff claimed 37,500 euros as damage from the first lockdown. The chamber in Frankenthal, which specializes in insurance matters, has dismissed the complaint and justified this with the wording in the insurance conditions “BB business closure 2010”. Accordingly, the insurance should step in in the event of official closings due to the Infection Protection Act. However, there was only a reference to “diseases or pathogens mentioned by name” according to the Infection Protection Act in the version from 2000. Covid-19 and the pathogen Sars-CoV-2 were not known and not named at the time. Therefore, corona-related closings are not insured, according to the chamber.
The plaintiff from Neustadt does not give up
The decision is not yet final. An appeal has already been made to the Palatinate Higher Regional Court in Zweibrücken, as the Frankenthal Regional Court informed.
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