The meaning of the fine print is key in an application before the High Court that may have ramifications for an estimated $10 billion in claims for losses suffered by businesses in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Insurance companies say they were never meant to cover pandemics, and lots of policies note pandemics as an exclusion when declared by the federal government under the Quarantine Act.Some insurance companies became aware of the change and amended policies, but others didn’t. The court ruled the words were the words and the exclusion clause wasn’t enlivened as COVID-19 was not declared under the old legislation.
“The nature of the risk means that it is, by most measures, uninsurable. The global reinsurance industry deliberately and clearly excluded pandemic-related losses from most policies on this basis,” the spokesperson said. Melbourne couple Travis and Liv Jones, who founded and run RBT gyms, had their claim with QBE knocked back, but their policy contains the Quarantine Act definition.
The Australian NSW Land & Environment Court's Judges: Preston, Moore & Commissioner Susan Dixon engage in anti-democratic anti-health actions- they support foreign adversarial ghetto over-developments, violating local/state policies and objections of Primary School & NZ residents