The upcoming oral argument at the North Carolina Supreme Court on Oct. 22-23 will focus on a dispute over insurance coverage for restaurant business losses during COVID pandemic shutdowns. The case, North State Deli v. The Cincinnati Insurance Company, involves 16 restaurants seeking to overturn a decision from the state Appeals Court denying coverage under “business interruption” insurance policies. Both the state Attorney General and the state Restaurant and Lodging Association hope to participate in the argument to present their perspectives on consumer protection and fair competition laws, as well as the practical implications of ruling in favor of the insurance company.
State Attorney General Josh Stein’s office has requested five minutes of argument time, while the restaurant groups have also filed a motion to participate in the case. The restaurant groups argue that the lack of a virus exclusion in the insurance policy indicates an intent to cover virus-related risks, especially since the pandemic’s impact was foreseeable. They believe that a court ruling in favor of the insurance company would disrupt the expectations of policyholders who purposefully purchased policies without virus exclusions.
The state Supreme Court has not set a deadline for deciding whether to allow the Attorney General and restaurant groups to participate in the argument. This case is the first of eight COVID-related cases to be heard by the North Carolina Supreme Court, highlighting the importance of clarifying insurance coverage issues related to pandemic shutdowns for businesses across the state.
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