The insurance industry and hundreds of thousands of policyholders will have to wait until the new year to find out the result of a high-profile court case about business interruption insurance during the coronavirus pandemic.
Regulator the Financial Conduct Authority said in a statement on its website that it has been informed by the Supreme Court that “it will not be in a position to hand down the judgment before January 2021”.
The dispute is time-sensitive as it involves around 370,000 policyholders who, because of complicated wording, are unsure whether they are entitled to make a claim for business interruption owing to Covid-19. The regulator and the insurance industry are seeking guidance from the court.
It is “probably the most important insurance decision of the last decade”, according to the FCA, and it has been fast-tracked from the High Court all the way to the Supreme Court through nine months of pandemic.
The Supreme Court hearing took place last month. At the end of the hearing Supreme Court judge Lord Reed said the court recognised the importance of a swift judgment.
He said the judges would provide their ruling as quickly as possible, but he added that he didn’t know whether they would rule before Christmas or in January.
The insurers appealing are Arch Insurance (UK), Argenta Syndicate Management, MS Amlin Underwriting, Hiscox, QBE UK, Royal & Sun Alliance and Zurich.
Hiscox Action Group, which represents Hiscox customers, also took part in the appeal.
