Aviva insurance: Covid 'not a contagious or infectious disease'

If any or all of these claims are settled in favour of the plaintiffs, then the federal and provincial governments (us taxpayers) will be off the hook for any subsidies or support payments to these businesses.

I wonder what else they are willing to challenge in our insurance claims if they dare to challenge something like this.
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Globe&Mail - April 7, 2021

Aviva Canada’s CEO says pandemic insurance coverage is now a thing of the past

Pandemic insurance will most likely become a thing of the past after the experiences of the COVID-19 outbreak, says Aviva Insurance Company of Canada’s chief executive Jason Storah.

The head of Canada’s third-largest property and casualty insurer had a front row seat to the early days of COVID-19 when the virus shut down more than a million companies across the country – including many Canadian dentists who had a coveted insurance policy that promised a payout of up to $20,000 in the event they had to close because of a pandemic.
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https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-aviva-canadas-ceo-says-pandemic-insurance-coverage-is-now-a-thing-of/
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Jul6 6, 2020

Class action sought against Aviva Canada for denial of business claims due to COVID-19

Insurer Aviva Canada faces a proposed class-action lawsuit that claims Canadian businesses have been denied contagious-disease coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Toronto law firm Thomson Rogers filed a request for certification of a class action last week in the Ontario Superior Court against Aviva Insurance Company of Canada, alleging the company failed to honour its business-interruption claims for Canadian businesses with what is known as enterprise-insurance policies. The policies include protection for the loss of business income as a result of an outbreak of a contagious or infectious disease.

“Because this matter is in litigation, we’re unable to comment publicly,” said Jennifer Shah, a spokesperson for Aviva Canada.

The case is the latest in a string of proposed class-actions that have been filed against insurers who offered business-interruption insurance to small and large companies. In May, Merchant Law Group LLP applied for certification as a Canada-wide class-action on behalf of business owners and some self-employed professionals whose business-interruption insurance claims have been denied during the COVID-19 pandemic, including owners of hotels, bars, restaurants and salons.

Monday’s class action application was filed on behalf of Nordik Windows Inc., a window manufacturing and installation company in Ontario. Nordik filed a claim under its enterprise-insurance policy when it had to close for several months because of the pandemic. The lawsuit seeks $100-million in damages on behalf of companies whose claims were denied.

According to court documents, Aviva denied the claim in early June, stating COVID-19 does not constitute an outbreak of a contagious or infectious disease. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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“Aviva has allegedly failed to honour its good-faith obligations to its policy-holders with respect to business-interruption claims resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Robert Ben and Stephen Birman, partners at Thomson Rogers, said in a statement. “This has put Canadian companies on the brink when they are most vulnerable.”

Mr. Ben told The Globe and Mail he is urging Canadian businesses to take a second look at their insurance policies, as many are unaware that they have contagious-disease coverage, and some may have claims that have wrongly been denied by Aviva.
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07 Jul 2020
Aviva faces another lawsuit over denial of business interruption claims
https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/ca/news/breaking-news/aviva-faces-another-lawsuit-over-denial-of-business-interruption-claims-227107.aspx

July 27, 2020
Aviva Insurance faces class action lawsuit from hotels denied COVID-19 coverage
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-aviva-insurance-faces-class-action-lawsuit-from-hotels-denied-covid-1/

July 30 2020
Aviva Denies Coverage to Businesses Hit Hard by COVID-19 Lerners Files Proposed Class Actions Against Aviva
https://www.lerners.ca/lernx/aviva-denies-coverage-to-businesses-hit-hard-by-covid-19/

February 23, 2021
Why business interruption lawsuits against Aviva got ‘carved off’ from Ontario class action

https://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/claims/why-business-interruption-lawsuits-against-aviva-got-carved-off-from-ontario-class-action-1004204192/