Stonegate Pub Company Limited v Amlin Corporate Member Limited & Ors.

Stonegate Pub Company Limited v Amlin Corporate Member Limited & Ors.

The policy's aggregation clause requires a significant but not proximate causal link to a single occurrence; the relevant occurrences for aggregation are the UK government decisions of 16 and 20 March 2020, not each individual COVID-19 case or the initial outbreak in Wuhan. Losses after the policy period are not generally proximately caused by covered events within the policy period, except for the continuation of the first lockdown. AICW sub-limits apply per SBIL, but only uneconomic ICW is covered by AICW. Government support payments (CJRS, BRR) are to be deducted from recoverable sums as they reduce business costs.

Parties
Claimant: Stonegate Pub Company Limited; First Defendant: MS Amlin Corporate Member Limited; Second Defendant: Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe SE; Third Defendant: Zurich Insurance PLC
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
17 October 2022
Procedural Posture
Commercial Insurance Claim / Stage 1 Issues Trial (preliminary Determination of Defined Issues)
Outcome
Stage 1 issues determined in favour of insurers on aggregation, causation, and government support deduction; in favour of Stonegate on AICW sub-limit per SBIL; mixed on AICW scope.
Legal Topics
Business Interruption Insurance, Policy Construction, Aggregation Clauses, Causation, Subrogation, COVID 19 Pandemic Losses, Government Support Payments
Insurance Law Contract Law Commercial Law Business Interruption Insurance Policy Construction Aggregation Clauses Causation Subrogation +2 more

Case Brief

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Parties

Stonegate Pub Company Limited

Claimant

MS Amlin Corporate Member Limited

First Defendant

Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe SE

Second Defendant

Zurich Insurance PLC

Third Defendant

Procedural Posture

Commercial Insurance Claim / Stage 1 Issues Trial (preliminary Determination of Defined Issues)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 What is the trigger for the relevant insuring clauses of the policy?
  2. 2 How should business interruption losses be aggregated under the policy?
  3. 3 Were losses after the policy period proximately caused by covered events within the policy period?

Ratio Decidendi

The policy's aggregation clause requires a significant but not proximate causal link to a single occurrence; the relevant occurrences for aggregation are the UK government decisions of 16 and 20 March 2020, not each individual COVID-19 case or the initial outbreak in Wuhan. Losses after the policy period are not generally proximately caused by covered events within the policy period, except for the continuation of the first lockdown. AICW sub-limits apply per SBIL, but only uneconomic ICW is covered by AICW. Government support payments (CJRS, BRR) are to be deducted from recoverable sums as they reduce business costs.

Court Disposition

Stage 1 issues determined in favour of insurers on aggregation, causation, and government support deduction; in favour of Stonegate on AICW sub-limit per SBIL; mixed on AICW scope.

Orders

  • Losses are to be aggregated by reference to the government decisions of 16 and 20 March 2020 (or, if not, by each nation's announcement), not by each COVID-19 case or per premises.
  • Losses after the policy period are not generally recoverable except for the continuation of the first lockdown.