Can you claim business interruption?

Have you suffered financial loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting restrictions imposed by Government?

On Friday 15 January 2020 the Supreme Court released their judgment in the case of Financial Conduct Authority -v- Arch Insurance UK) Limited and others where they upheld the lower court decision that COVID-19 was a notifiable disease for business interruption purposes.

Businesses need to check their insurance policies to see if their cover is up to date and includes business interruption. Once satisfied on these points they may begin to consider what (if any) losses the business has suffered as a direct result of COVID-19. Unfortunately, this may have come too late for some businesses who may need insolvency intervention, although the court have made it clear insolvency is not grounds in itself for rejecting a claim as you need to consider the business trend following the effects of the pandemic.

The judgment, itself, goes on for 112 pages so this editorial is merely going to provide a broad overview.

The insurers’ arguments

The principal arguments appear to be:
• COVID-19 was excluded because any loss caused by an occurrence of a notifiable disease is excluded for cover where the disease amounts to an epidemic (“The disease clause”).
• Prevention of access to trading premises was not imposed by law (“The prevention of access clause”).
• Insurers’ are not liable to indemnify policyholders for losses which would have arisen regardless of COVID-19 (“The trend clause”).
• The Orient-Express Hotels decision.

The court interpretation

The disease clause.
The court noted policies will list notifiable diseases but may provide for adding to that list where a new disease emerges that is a threat to public health. The court saw no merit in the insurers’ argument as that would make overall policy wording inconsistent.

The prevention of access.
While the court acknowledged it is for the policyholder to prove their loss as a result of COVID-19, prevention of access to trade premises as a result of local authority intervention was sufficient to trigger claims and did not require a law ordering closure. It was also accepted prevention of using trade premises needed to be in compliance with Government instructions and social distancing rules and not purely on grounds of being a hinderance.

The trend clause.
This was designed to assist in quantifying losses. In dismissing the insurers’ argument, the court said the standard turnover and gross profit derived from previous trading is adjusted only to reflect circumstances which are inextricably linked with the insured peril. It was accepted some of the adjustment when comparing past trading trends should include circumstances unrelated to COVID-19 such as a change in management.

Orient-Express Hotels Ltd -v- Assicurazioni Generale SPA

The insurers appear to place reliance on this case, being the only known reported case on business interruption claims. In short, the hotel was insured in the UK but was based and operated in New Orleans. It was severely damaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and claims were made for losses suffered as a result of the damage and damage to the surrounding area (of the city) resulting in a decline of income from reduced visitor numbers. At both the arbitration and arbitration appeal the decision went in favour of the insurers whereby losses resulting from the damage to the hotel applied. The losses caused by the surrounding city damage fell outside of the policy.

The Supreme court disagreed and made it clear, had the matter gone to court it would have over-turned the decision of the arbitrators. In reaching this conclusion the court said business interruption arose because both (a) the hotel was damaged and also (b) the surrounding area of the city was damaged by the same hurricanes so were concurrent causes, each of which was, by itself being sufficient to cause the relevant business interruption but neither of which satisfied the ”But for” test because of the existence of the other.

In short, Prevention to access trading premises as a result of COVID-19 guidelines were concurrent causes for business interruption. You would not have been prevented from access to your trade premises had COVID-19 not arisen, causing the “Stay home” and social distancing instructions.

CONCLUSION

Firstly, it must be placed on record, the insurers involved with this vital test case scheme volunteered to be party to the matter under a framework agreement on 1 June 2020. With over 370,000 potential claims worth in excess of £1.2 billion, it was recognised that both the insurers and the policyholders needed clarity. Indeed, two working groups were also allowed to join the case as interveners.

Putting it bluntly, the insurance companies lost and have been ordered to treat COVID-19 as a notifiable disease for business interruption purposes. Indeed, the court said, “It is hoped that this determination will facilitate prompt settlement of many of the claims and achieve very considerable savings in the time and cost of resolving individual claims.”

Should you have an insolvency-related issue then please contact me at PBC Business Recovery & Insolvency on (01604) 212150 (Northampton office) or (01234) 834886 (Bedford office). Alternatively, you may send an email to garypettit@pbcbusinessrecovery.co.uk or access our website at www.pbcbusinessrecovery.co.uk

The Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed the Insurers’ appeals and allowed all four of the FCA’s appeals

“STOP PRESS”

The Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed the Insurers’ appeals and allowed all four of the FCA’s appeals, which is positive news to policyholders across the country that have suffered business interruption losses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At first instance the FCA had been successful on many of the issues and now the Supreme Court has found substantially in favour of the FCA on the issues appealed.

The Supreme Court are currently delivering their verdict on this important issue and we will provide further updates as it come through

Any questions please call Gary Pettit on 01604 212150

Covid updates – Extension of temporary restrictions

“The government has announced that the temporary restrictions on winding-up petitions and statutory demands as set out in the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 will be extended until 31 March 2021. The extension is made in line with an extension to the restrictions on commercial forfeiture and commercial rent arrears recovery, which have also been extended until to the end of March.

This extension will, no doubt, frustrate landlords or any party who feel normal debt recovery procedures have been exhausted (or of little value) and where commencing winding up proceedings appears to be the only realistic approach for enforcing payment.

 

For those caught up in a financial dispute or debt collection issue it is also further encouragement to consider settlement of any claim by way of mediation, being the principal recognised procedure under Alternative Dispute Resolution.  Should anyone wish to discuss mediation then please contact Gary Pettit at PBC who is a CEDR accredited mediator.“

COMPANY VOLUNTARY ARRANGEMENTS

The Association of Business Recovery Professionals (R3) which is the trade association for the United Kingdom’s insolvency profession, has launched a standard form of proposal (Standard Form) for company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent negative economic implications on businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This has been prepared after consultation with insolvency professionals.

BACKGROUND

A CVA is a statutory agreement between a company and its creditors. It allows the company to come to an arrangement with its creditors over payment of its debts or to pay only a proportion of the debt it owes, while continuing to trade. A company can only arrange a CVA through an insolvency practitioner and is required to show that the company is still viable as a going concern. The CVA must be approved by 75 percent (by debt value) of the creditors who vote. CVAs are legally binding on all unsecured creditors and will typically last from one to five years (although there is no legal limit). Once the CVA has been entered into, the company will need to make the scheduled payments outlined in the CVA.

KEY FEATURES OF THE STANDARD FORM

Key features of the Standard Form include:

• A delayed period before payment of 100 percent of the company’s debts (which R3 suggests should be six months). The duration of the delayed period will predominantly depend on the specific circumstances and creditors of the company, and the time periods suggested in the Standard Form should be viewed as guidelines only.
• An explicit statement that the company is experiencing financial distress due to COVID-19 and for which the company will have to provide supporting details of its circumstances.
• New trading costs incurred during the CVA are to be paid out of new trading income and support from the UK government, where available.
• An additional introductory period of a maximum of three months, designed for companies that are still unable to restart their operations following the initial UK lockdown that began on 16 March 2020.
• A moratorium against creditors enforcing their historic pre-CVA debts during the “introductory period” and the “breathing space period” of the CVA. The Standard Form also includes mechanisms to extend these periods.
• During the CVA, a number of restrictions will apply to the company’s operations, including declaring dividends, increasing directors’ salaries and borrowing or selling the company’s business or assets (save in the ordinary course of business) without the consent of the CVA supervisor (the supervisor) or creditors.
• The ability to suspend payments if the company is located in an area that is currently under a local lockdown (such as businesses forced to close if they are in Tier 3 area).
• The ability to seek further decisions if more significant changes become necessary due to COVID-19.
The main advantage of the Standard Form is the moratorium placed on creditors, which gives the company some breathing space before its creditors can enforce their debts against it. The Standard Form can also be used in conjunction with the new moratorium for businesses introduced by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020.
It is important to note that the Standard Form is not “one size fits all.” The Standard Form is also not intended to replace professional advice. Rather, it is intended to provide a foundation, which will save time and costs and make CVAs more accessible for SMEs.

CONCLUSION

Although CVAs are a bespoke process, the Standard Form will undoubtedly aid SMEs considering the CVA process. With the number of company insolvencies set to increase in the United Kingdom over the next few months, it is likely the Standard Form will be a useful tool for SMEs to set the foundation for further negotiations with creditors.
That being said, it should be noted HMRC will fall into the definition of “secondary preferential creditors” from 1 December 2020 under the Finance Act 2020. If a company owes a large debt to HMRC, then any proposed CVA will most likely fail. Whether this leads to a decrease in CVAs after 1 December 2020, or if the UK government will intervene in light of COVID-19, remains to be seen.

Should you have an insolvency-related issue then please contact Gary Pettit at PBC Business Recovery & Insolvency on (01604) 212150 (Northampton office) or (01234) 834886 (Bedford office). Alternatively, you may send an email to garypettit@pbcbusinessrecovery.co.uk or access our website at www.pbcbusinessrecovery.co.uk

Lockdown 2 – Open for Business and Support

The news none of us wished to hear was announced with the UK being placed under lockdown until 2 December 2020.  This could not be any worse for many businesses who are believing this maybe the final straw.

At PBC we recognise businesses need access to advice and assistance without any delay.  Accordingly, the PBC Team continue to be available, while also recognising the need to comply with the lockdown provisions.

There are some key dates advisors should be aware of when assisting your clients.  These include:

  • Crown preferential status returns on 1 December.  This will relate to all unpaid tax liabilities on any formal insolvency procedure that comes into effect on or after 1 December and could impair any effort of restructuring a business.
  • Under reforms to The Corporate Insolvency & Governance Act 2020 two interim prohibitions were extended to 31 December.  These are:
  • Serving of statutory demands or presentation of winding up petitions; and
  • A landlord of commercial property may not take enforcement action against a tenant for amounts due that fall within the COVID interim period.

 

A more concerning point of note is the freezing of the wrongful trading period was not extended beyond 30 October.  Accordingly, directors and business owners alike are now exposed to personal liability or (where an individual is made bankrupt) a bankruptcy restrictions order should they continue to increase liabilities with no reasonable prospect of avoiding insolvent liquidation or bankruptcy.  The inability to trade (as a result of lockdown) does not stop liabilities from continuing to accrue so clients need to assess the financial position of their business and take early advice

Cynthia Spencer Hospice Charity Golf Day 8th October 2020

Fantastic day enjoying a round of golf with colleagues whilst supporting a great charity Cynthia Spencer Hospice Charity . The afternoon weather was excellent

Thanks to Sean Halliwell Adam Billingham and Jamie Cochrane for bringing the PBC Business Recovery & Insolvency home in 3rd place.

PBC Business Recovery & Insolvency are proud supporters of Cynthia Spencer Hospice Charity
#charity #fundraising #golfing #support

PBC Charity Golf Day

Amazing Weather, Great Golf and an excellent course at Overstone Park Resort led to an entertaining and enjoyable PBC Business Recovery & Insolvency Golf Day raising funds for Cynthia Spencer Hospice Charity

Working with the club and maintaining Covid regulations we were able to put on the PBC Business Recovery & Insolvency annual golf day hosting 36 players. 10 teams over a 2-tee start saw some impressive individual and team scores. The Nearest the Pin competitions were eagerly fought out and there was a great take up for the charity hole on the tricky 17th

Congratulations to the winners:

Nearest Pin on 4th was Richard Burkimsher
Nearest the pin in 2 on 15th was Philip Gale
Charity Hole winner was Andrew Hasker

DFA Law LLP came into the day as reigning team ball champions as well as Paul Currie defending his individual title. The team did not disappoint again this year taking the team competition. Paul Currie was in contention to win his second title but was narrowly beaten by his teammate Danny Roberts. Congratulations Danny.

Who can loosen the DFA Law LLP grip next year?

Thank you to all those who attended and made it such a fantastic day. Once we have been able to tally up the final total raised for Charity, I will let you know.