Chiropractor Not Entitled to Coverage for COVID-19 Losses, Mich. Federal Judge Rules

DETROIT — A Michigan federal judge has dismissed a chiropractic office’s lawsuit against State Farm demanding coverage for COVID-19-related business interruption losses, ruling that the practice did not suffer an “accidental direct physical loss to covered property,” as required by the policy.

In a Sept. 3 order, Judge Thomas L. Ludington of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan rejected Turek Enterprises Inc. d/b/a Alcona Chiropractic’s argument that “direct physical loss” includes “loss of use,” explaining that under that interpretation, any event rendering insured property “unusable or uninhabitable” would trigger coverage, regardless of whether there was any …