Stonegate files £845m lawsuit against insurers

Stonegate Group has filed a £845m lawsuit against its insurers: MS Amlin, Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe and Zurich, in the latest sector dispute over business interruption policies.

The claim has been brought in London’s High Court and relates to losses suffered during the pandemic, the FT has reported.

Stonegate’s policy has been triggered several times during the crisis but while its insurers have not disputed the policies should pay out, they have stated that their liability is limited to £17.5m, £14.5m of which has already been paid out.

Other hospitality operators who have turned to the courts in recent months include Corbin & King, Various Eateries, Black & White Hospitality and Inception Group.

Corbin & King is in the process of seeking a so-called declaratory judgement, which is when the court is asked to rule on the meaning of a policy, while Various Eateries, which owns the Coppa Club and Strada restaurants, has filed a £16.3m lawsuit against Allianz regarding the contended liability.

“I think that if [businesses] were genuinely paying an additional premium to protect them from epidemics and pandemics then the default response should be that insurers pay out,” said Hugh Osmond, founder of Various Eateries, told the FT.