Markel Insurance Disclaims Coverage for Gym Owner’s COVID-19 Business Losses

CHICAGO — Markel Insurance Co. has moved to dismiss a COVID-19 coverage action filed by the owner of four Anytime Fitness franchises in Alabama and Mississippi, arguing that there was no “direct physical loss or damage” to property, as required by the policy.

In an Aug. 19 motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Markel says all of the policy’s coverage provisions for Business Income and Extra Expense, Extended Business Income, and Civil Authority require “direct physical” loss of or damage to either the insured premises or, in the case of Civil Authority Coverage, …