Md. Jewelry Store’s COVID-19 Losses Excluded from Coverage, Federal Judge Says

BALTIMORE — A Maryland federal judge has awarded Twin City Fire Insurance Co. judgment on the pleadings in a COVID-19 business interruption coverage action, ruling that the policy’s Fungi, Bacteria or Virus Exclusion applies to the alleged losses.

In a Sept. 16 order, Judge Paul W. Grimm of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland rejected the policyholder’s argument that the exclusion is ambiguous, finding it clearly bars coverage for loss or damage arising out of a virus.

Judge Grimm further ruled that coverage under the policy’s “Limited Fungi, Bacteria or Virus Coverage Endorsement” was not triggered because …