Commercial Division Finds Movie Theater Not Entitled to Business Interruption Coverage for COVID-19 Closures
Last summer, we wrote about two principles of New York law that could provide a path to insurance coverage for businesses hit hard by the economic losses resulting from Governor Cuomo’s COVID-19-related shutdown orders. Although we noted that businesses seeking such coverage would likely face an uphill battle, we proposed that recovery under certain business interruption policies might be available in New York because: 1) an insurable loss of use occurred even without physical damage to the covered property; and/or 2) the policy’s “civil authority” clause extended to closures resulting from Governor Cuomo’s orders.