Vacation Rental Businesses Say COVID-19 Business Losses Covered Under Lloyd’s Policy

RALEIGH, N.C. — The owners of two vacation rental businesses have sued Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, demanding coverage for losses they sustained when they were forced to cease operations in compliance with government COVID-19 closure orders.

In a Nov. 18 class action complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Palm and Pine Ventures LLC and MDH Global LLC contend that the closure orders, as well as the presence of the COVID-19 virus itself, caused them to sustain “direct physical loss of and damage to” their insured properties in the form of diminished …