COVID-19 Business Interruption claims
Lodging a Business Interruption claim
Learn more about making a claim or give our claims team a call on 13 10 13. If you have a broker, contact them for more information.
Once you’ve lodged a claim, we’ll review each claim subject to the terms of your BI Insurance cover. Before your claim can be paid, you must be able to demonstrate a loss that’s covered by the policy. We may also need you to provide evidence to support your claim. We’ll tell you the type of information we need. Once we’ve assessed your claim, we’ll let you know the outcome.
We’re committed to supporting our customers through the claims process and assessing claims as soon as possible.
Questions to consider when making a claim
If you believe your circumstances entitle you to claim under your BI cover, then you should consider lodging a claim.
Give our claims team a call on 13 10 13. If you have a broker, contact them for more information.
If your business was affected by a COVID-19 case or outbreak, it may have disrupted your business in a number of ways. These can include the following:
- A confirmed case of COVID-19 at the insured premises that interferes, interrupts, or requires the business to close.
- A closure because of a known COVID-19 case within the vicinity limit (as detailed in the PDS, e.g. 20km) of the premises.
- A closure because of a confirmed COVID-19 outbreak in the vicinity of your business.
In all these instances, we’ll need you to provide evidence. This can include:
- Health authority advice.
- Emergency professional cleaning invoices.
If the confirmed COVID-19 case wasn’t at your premises, you’ll need to be able to identify where it was in relation to your business. Please note, as per the judgment in the second BI test cases (including the appeal to the Full Court of the Federal Court) a confirmed COVID-19 case within the vicinity limit may not trigger the insuring clause.
Your business may have had to change its trading hours. Or, you might have modified the business to allow you to trade under COVID-19, e.g. operating as a window-only or takeaway-only business.
Whatever changes were made, we’ll need your previous 12 months sales data prior to the date of loss, as well as sales data during the loss period.
Once we’ve reviewed your claim, and we’ve agreed that you have an eligible claim, we may ask you to provide the following financial information:
- Quarterly business activity statements.
- Monthly or annual profit and loss statements.
- Monthly payroll summary reports by employee.
- Supporting invoices for increased or additional costs incurred to mitigate loss or maintain business operations.
- Evidence of any government benefits your business has received, e.g. JobKeeper.
- Details of all rental relief provided by your landlord.
Where we need additional information in support of your claim, we’ll let you know as soon as we’ve reviewed your claim.
Further background
On 14 October 2022, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) concluded its series of court ‘test cases’ to clarify the circumstances that would trigger a claim to be paid under BI cover due to COVID-19. In summary:
The first BI test case took place in June 2021. The NSW Court of Appeal found insurers couldn’t rely on pandemic exclusions contained in BI coverage that reference the repealed Quarantine Act 1908 (Cth).
The second BI test case judgment was delivered by the Full Court of the Federal Court on 21 February 2022. The High Court refused to grant the special leave application for the second BI test case on 14 October 2022. The second BI test case process has now concluded. This has now provided clarity on a number of policy issues such as:
- How the definitions of infectious disease are to be interpreted in policy wordings.
- What constitutes a COVID-19 outbreak.
- How the proximity requirement is to be interpreted.
- The impact of government orders and other mandates.
- Other policy wording matters.
This means that in the factual circumstances set out in test cases, the relevant insuring clauses won’t be triggered. This means there may be no cover under the policy for these types of claims.
We appreciate your patience while these matters have been resolved. Clear guidance and agreement by the courts has been essential in determining how we interpret and apply the relevant policy wordings to BI claims. The High Court ruling and conclusion of the test case process means that claims will ultimately be determined based on the applicable principles of the final judgment of the Full Court of the Federal Court in this test case and that of the first test case, as well as the terms of the particular BI policy of the policyholder.
For more information regarding the BI test cases, visit the Insurance Council of Australia website.
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Any advice here does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation or needs. Terms, conditions, limits and exclusions apply.
Allianz Australia Insurance Limited ABN 15 000 122 850 AFS Licence No. 234708 is the insurer of any general insurance products offered on this website.
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