Insurance carriers are looking to find ways to deny personal injury coverage to Coronavirus patients and their families.
Illinois and Indiana, along with the rest of our nation and other countries around the world, are trying to slow the spread of the Coronavirus. Meanwhile, all sorts of harm results from the bodily injuries sustained by COVID-19 victims: from their medical expenses to their lost wages, to business interruption lost profits, and more.
Today, we will consider insurance coverage for the personal injuries of Coronavirus victims in Indiana and Illinois. In our next post, we will discuss other aspects of COVID-19 harm and the very real possibility of bad faith denials of insurance coverage by carriers.
For more on bad faith, read:
- “Bad Faith: When an Accident Victim is Victimized a Second Time by the Insurance Company”;
- “Insurance Company Has Duty to Settle Your Claim: Bad Faith Lawsuits Against The Insurer”; and
- “The Law of Bad Faith Insurance Claims in Indiana and Illinois.”
Bodily Injury Claims Based Upon Coronavirus Exposure and COVID-19 Illness
When someone is exposed to COVID-19 on the premises of a store, office, restaurant, bank, etc., then they may have a bodily injury claim against that business for the resulting harm suffered when they contract the Coronavirus and suffer personal injury, or even death, as a result.
General Liability Coverage
Businesses understand that people may get hurt on their premises. This is why most commercial enterprises pay for commercial insurance. Usually, these insurance policies provide businesses with “general liability” coverage.
These general liability policies have contractual provisions that provide coverage “on account of, or because of, bodily injury.” They are purchased by businesses to protect them against claims for things like medical expenses when someone is hurt or injured on their property and they are responsible for the harm.
A basic example of how a general liability policy works is where someone slips and falls in a department store. The store’s business liability insurance will cover the injury victim’s claims for damages resulting from the accident under its “bodily injury” provisions.
Coronavirus Exposure as Bodily Injury Claim
As the Coronavirus Pandemic continues to unfold, from the perspective of victim advocates there arises the question of whether or not insurers will try and deny Coronavirus victims’ bodily injury claims.
There is an obvious need for Coronavirus victims to file claims for personal injury coverage of their medical care and damages. It is also clear that insurance carriers are looking at ways to deny responsibility and coverage for those who have suffered harm (or have died) from the Coronavirus.
Insurance carriers and their legal teams are working hard to try and find ways to avoid paying any kind of COVID-19 Claim. They’ve been busy strategizing their defenses for months now. See, “Businesses Fear Lawsuits from Sick Employees, Patrons After Reopening,” written by Erik Larson, Edvard Pettersson and Christopher Yasiejko and published by the Insurance Journal on April 20, 2020.
We have discussed this earlier, see: “Coronavirus Lawsuits and COVID19 Legal Claims in Indiana and Illinois: Wrongful Death or Serious Injury.”
Insurance Industry Strategizing on Ways to Deny Coronavirus Illness Claims
In these instances, as in other situations where insurance companies fail to honor claims covered by their policies, the victim and his (or her) loved ones may be forced to file a lawsuit because the carrier simply does not want to pay a Coronavirus claim.
The COVID-19 injury claims are straight-forward enough. Under the General Liability coverage provision for instances of “bodily injury,” the Coronavirus victim has been injured, just as any slip and fall victim might be injured on the business premises, and accordingly the insurance coverage is triggered.
However, the business itself must forward the Coronavirus victim’s claim to its insurance company. It is here where things are getting complicated. The insurance industry is working together as a team to consider how best to handle Coronavirus claims no matter their basis (bodily injury, business interruption, workers’ compensation, etc.).
Arguments being tossed around include exclusions based upon general liability policy language dealing with (1) contaminant/pollutant, (2) mold/bacteria, and (3) communicable disease exclusion provisions. For details, read “Insurance Coverage for Coronavirus (COVID-19),” written by Arthur S. Garrett III, and published by the National Law Review on March 18, 2020.
Their defenses against paying bodily injury claims filed by victims of the Coronavirus are being honed in advance of the actual injury claims being filed by the COVID-19 patient and their families.
As an example, for more on the insurance industry’s position that COVID-19 should not be covered under the general liability coverage protections for “bodily injury” because it is excluded as a pollutant, see, e.g., “Is COVID-19 a Covered Pollution Exposure? What to Look for in Your Policy Language,” written by Grant Nichols and published by Risk&Insurance on March 23, 2020.
Seeking Justice after Denial of a Coronavirus Illness Claim
Advocates for injury victims can easily forecast that lawsuits will have to be filed against businesses who deny responsibility after a Coronavirus sufferer submits a bodily injury claim.
These victims will need to work with experienced personal injury advocates who have a depth of understanding of how insurance companies operate to deny liability for harm to a victim. This is because the business’ general liability insurance carrier will be readily prepared to deny responsibility based on all sorts of arguments being crafted in advance.
Sadly, Coronavirus victims and their loved ones will be facing another unprecedented battle after falling ill to the novel COVID-19 virus. They are being forced upon another battleground, where they must fight for their personal injury claims to be respected by an industry notorious for putting profits over people, as established in countless past precedents involving bad faith lawsuits for unwarranted denials of coverage.
Justice for Coronavirus Injury Victims in Indiana and Illinois
While the Coronavirus Pandemic is unprecedented, the posturing of insurance companies to deny coverage if at all possible is not. Insurance adjusters and insurance defense attorneys will be working with others within the insurance industry for ways to avoid taking financial responsibility for the Coronavirus victim’s harm.
Those who have fallen ill from the Coronavirus may have a bodily injury claim to file for the harm they have suffered — and possibly a lawsuit to file after their claim has been denied based on strategized industry arguments like pollution exclusions.
For more on Coronavirus, see:
- Coronavirus on the Job: Proving Employee Exposure Claims Against Employer for COVID-19 Injury
- Coronavirus Lawsuits and COVID19 Legal Claims in Indiana and Illinois: Wrongful Death or Serious Injury
- Employers’ Duty to Protect Workers during Coronavirus Outbreak
- Deadlines for Injury Victims to File Lawsuits: Statutes of Limitations.
Coronavirus victims do have avenues for justice in place under the state laws of Indiana and Illinois. Insurance carriers’ take on legal liability may well be very different from those resulting from the courts. Please be careful out there!
