Gym Successfully Pled Virus Caused ‘Physical Loss or Damage,’ Pa. Judge Rules

SCRANTON, Pa. — A Pennsylvania state judge has allowed a gym to proceed with its COVID-19 coverage action against Cincinnati Insurance Co., ruling that the alleged "continuous presence" of the virus on its property caused "direct physical loss or damage" as required by the “all-risk” policy.

In a July 13 order, Judge Terrence R. Nealon of the Lackawanna County (Pa.) Court of Common Pleas held that an insured may satisfy the “direct physical loss or damage” prerequisite if an invisible agent such as COVID-19 renders the property “useless or uninhabitable,” or the property’s functionality is “nearly eliminated or destroyed” by …