LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - French insurance company AXA on Tuesday said it would pay out most claims from restaurant owners hit by the coronavirus pandemic after a court ruled in favour of one affected business.
The Paris court ruled last week AXA should pay one owner two-months' worth of coronavirus-related revenue losses, potentially paving the way to more litigation from business owners who have had claims for business interruption denied.

AXA added that it would pay a further €500m (£445m) in aid for small companies.

"These contracts represent less than 10% out of total contracts with restaurant owners and I am confident that we will find a solution," Buberl said. "We want to compensate a substantial part of these contracts, we want to do it quickly".

"The idea is clearly to reinforce those companies which are weakened by this crisis," Buberl said, referring to the assistance package.

The move will give hope to UK business, with several action groups looking at taking their respective insurers to court after having similar claims rejected.

Aviva and fellow insurer QBE face possible legal action from the Hospitality Insurance Group Action (HIGA) over disputed coronavirus-related claims, while sector peers are also under fire from policyholders over interpretation of policy wordings.

HIGA was formed by business owners who believe their policies should payout after the government forced them shutter as part of the lock down. Insurers have said policies do not cover pandemics.

The action group said lawyers at Mishcon de Reya had reviewed 500 business interruption policies to determine if there are grounds to bring a claim and narrowed it down to Aviva and QBE​, adding that the law firm believed there were grounds to bring legal action at the High Court.

Sector peer Hiscox is also under fire from around 400 businesses which have formed an action group over its denial of Covid-19 claims, while Allianz and RSA face separate challenges.

Britain's Financial Conduct Authority said recently it planned to launch a test case in the High Court in an effort to provide some clarity for insurers and their customers.

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