October 5, 2020 — Miller Schirger, Stueve Siegel Hanson, Langdon & Emison, and Shaffer Lombardo Shurin recently secured another favorable ruling for business owners denied pandemic-related business interruption coverage by their insurers.

In May, the firms filed a lawsuit on behalf of four locally owned and Kansas City-based dental practices against their insurer, Owners Insurance Company, for refusing to provide coverage for losses from COVID-19. Owners Insurance responded by filing a motion to dismiss, arguing that the dental practices were not entitled to coverage.

But on September 21, 2020, Judge Stephen R. Bough, United States District Judge for the Western District of Missouri, denied Owners Insurance’s motion. This Order follows two others issued by Judge Bough, which were the first in the country in favor of insureds for COVID-19 related coverage.

Here the defendant raised a new argument, claiming that the policy did not cover the plaintiffs’ dental practices because one of them did not shut down completely, but continued to see emergency patients. Judge Bough rejected that argument, concluding that coverage can exist for a slowdown of business caused by COVID-19.

Miller Schirger and co-counsel are currently representing business owners nationwide against insurance companies in business interruption litigation in multiple jurisdictions. More information on this consortium of firms is available here:  https://www.businessloss.com/.

Read Judge Bough’s <Order> denying defendants’ motion to dismiss.