Corboy & Demetrio Files COVID-19 Business Interruption Lawsuit for Major Transportation Company
Corboy & Demetrio filed a lawsuit for declaratory judgment on June 15, 2020, on behalf of Windy City Limousine Company, LLC, one of Chicago’s largest limousine operators, against its insurer, The Cincinnati Companies.
Corboy & Demetrio COVID-19 Business Interruption Lawsuit for Major Transportation Company
The lawsuit, filed in response to Cincinnati’s denial of Windy City Limo’s claim for business interruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, seeks a court order declaring that Windy City Limo’s claim for business income losses falls within the scope of coverage afforded under its businessowners insurance policy issued by Cincinnati.
According to the lawsuit filed in Cook Co. Circuit Court, Windy City Limousine obtained an all-risk businessowners policy from Cincinnati on June 1, 2019, which covers “losses to business property, business personal property, business income and extra expense for 12 months of actual loss sustained, and civil authority.”
The lawsuit alleges that this is an “all-risk policy,” meaning that Cincinnati agreed to insure Windy City Limo for all covered causes of loss, unless the policy specifically excludes or limits such loss. As alleged in the lawsuit, the policy issued by Cincinnati to Windy City Limo contains no exclusion for losses resulting from virus, pandemic, Act of God, force majeure, or mass catastrophe.
The lawsuit further alleges that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Windy City’s business operations were “effectively rendered inoperable” because access to its properties for the purpose of Windy City’s business operations were “restricted for the protection of the general public,” as Illinois existed under a scientifically documented state of wide-spread COVID-19 exposure to both people and property, which presumptively included Windy City Limo’s business premises, according to the lawsuit.
2nd COVID-19 Lawsuit Filed by Corboy & Demetrio on Behalf of Illinois Business
This is the second COVID-19 lawsuit Corboy & Demetrio filed on behalf of an Illinois business that had obtained an all-risk insurance policy for business interruption coverage which did not exclude loss from viruses, but for which coverage was nonetheless denied by an insurance carrier.
On June 1, 2020, Demetrio and Kirschner filed a lawsuit on behalf of Lodge Management Corporation, which owns numerous iconic Chicago taverns and restaurants, against its insurer, Society Insurance, for the denial of insurance claims for losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These insurance carriers don’t seem to understand that when they sign an agreement, they have to abide by it. Customers like Windy City and Lodge faithfully pay millions of dollars in premium payments each year in case something catastrophic like this happens,” Demetrio said.
Kirschner added, “These kinds of small businesses comprise the fabric of our society and our economy, employing millions of Americans and providing services to millions more in an integrally woven chain of supply and demand.” According to Kirschner, “It is simply shameful that the insurance industry has appeared to have banded together early in this pandemic to protect their profits by breaching their contractual commitment as a safety net to small business owners and shifting the burden of shouldering these devastating losses onto those who can least absorb it.”
#2020CH04563, Windy City Limousine Company, LLC, v. Cincinnati Financial Corp., the Cincinnati Insurance Company, The Cincinnati Casualty Company, The Cincinnati Indemnity Company and Valley Companies, a Corp., filed in Cook Co. Circuit Court on June 14, 2020.