Youghal hotel claims insurance policy 'riddled with confusion' and should cover pandemic

The court heard that the insurer's website "says it gives you peace of mind but the plaintiffs have not been given peace of mind, they have almost lost their minds"

Coachhouse Catering Ltd, which runs the Old Imperial Hotel (pictured) in Youghal, Co. Cork, has brought the action over what it says is the refusal of the Zavarovalnica Sava insurance company to provide an indemnity for losses suffered under a business interruption insurance policy it provided. File photo: Dan Linehan

An insurer's business interruption insurance policy is "riddled with obfuscation and confusion" and should be interpreted as providing cover for Covid-19 disruption, the Commercial Court has heard.

The claim was made by Richard Kean SC, for a Cork hotel suing a Slovenia-based insurer and a broker, on the first day of a case which, counsel said, has implications for several other similar businesses which were closed by the pandemic.