Bakery chain Greggs wins business interruption insurance case against Zurich

The insurer initially contended that the bakery chain could only claim for a single BI instance.

Greggs has won an initial case against Zurich over its business interruption claims during the COVID-19 lockdown, a report by Insurance Insider said.

The insurer had initially contended Greggs could only claim for a single occurrence under its policy, which would mean applying a £2.5m ($2.8m) limit to all of its BI losses caused by the COVID-19 lockdown.

However, the bakery chain argued that it was entitled to access a separate limit of £2.5m, each time the UK and devolved governments adopted new COVI-19 restrictions affecting its business.

The court ruled that there was a single occurrence at the outset of the pandemic restrictions, from March 2020 to May 2020, followed by separate occurrences in each jurisdiction in the UK as the levels of restrictions were adjusted over the year.

The court also ruled that there were separate occurrences within each jurisdiction where local lockdowns or other restrictions had been imposed.

In June, Greggs increased its claim against Zurich from an initial £100m to £150m.

It said it had 1,778 insured locations in England, a further 157 in Wales, 279 in Scotland and 21 in Northern Ireland, arguing that each of these locations had suffered BI losses to some extent.

Greggs was claiming £726.2k for the additional increased cost of working and a further £600k for claims preparation and public relations crisis management costs.