Pubs could drive new round of Covid insurance claims in England

Stonegate, a pub group in the UK is suing Zurich and two peers over lockdown losses. Picture: Kirsty O'Connor/PA Wire

Britain's biggest pubs group Stonegate, which is suing Zurich Insurance and two peers for £1bn (€1.2bn) over lockdown losses, battled the Covid-19 pandemic "day by day, venue by venue", a London trial has heard. 

Ben Lynch, a lawyer for Stonegate, said the company's 760 insured pubs, bars, and nightclubs at the centre of the case had each faced separate challenges, opening and shutting at differing times according to regional rules – and seeing business drop by up to 90% below projections.