[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.truittlawoffices.com\/blog\/fort-wayne-law-firm-fights-to-help-local-businesses-with-business-interruption-claim\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.truittlawoffices.com\/blog\/fort-wayne-law-firm-fights-to-help-local-businesses-with-business-interruption-claim\/","headline":"Fort Wayne Law Firm Fights to Help Local Businesses with Business Interruption Claim","name":"Fort Wayne Law Firm Fights to Help Local Businesses with Business Interruption Claim","description":"The attorneys at Truitt Law Offices in Fort Wayne, Indiana, are committed to helping local businesses that have business interruption claims due to the coronavirus pandemic fight for full and fair compensation from insurers that deny\u00a0business interruption claims. Truitt Law Offices has filed a lawsuit on behalf of John Sohn,...","datePublished":"2020-05-19","dateModified":"2024-04-29","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.truittlawoffices.com\/blog\/author\/philtruitt\/#Person","name":"Phil Truitt","url":"https:\/\/www.truittlawoffices.com\/blog\/author\/philtruitt\/","identifier":14,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f112f948511b1b4986cc42659aba88a8f0fcc0e3a93ed222ce1643fca1d6a2d9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f112f948511b1b4986cc42659aba88a8f0fcc0e3a93ed222ce1643fca1d6a2d9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Truitt Law Offices","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.truittlawoffices.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Truitt-Law-Offices-Logo.png","url":"https:\/\/www.truittlawoffices.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Truitt-Law-Offices-Logo.png","width":427,"height":59}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.truittlawoffices.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/business-insurance-policy-1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.truittlawoffices.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/business-insurance-policy-1.jpg","height":627,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.truittlawoffices.com\/blog\/fort-wayne-law-firm-fights-to-help-local-businesses-with-business-interruption-claim\/","about":["Personal Injury"],"wordCount":1003,"articleBody":"The attorneys at Truitt Law Offices in Fort Wayne, Indiana, are committed to helping local businesses that have business interruption claims due to the coronavirus pandemic fight for full and fair compensation from insurers that deny\u00a0business interruption claims.Truitt Law Offices has filed a lawsuit on behalf of John Sohn, owner of\u00a0Kaysan\u2019s 5th Down Bar\u00a0in Fort Wayne. Sohn had to close his business in March and lay off 19 employees after Gov. Eric Holcomb issued the first of several executive orders closing all restaurants and bars in an effort to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.Sohn had obtained business interruption insurance from Society Insurance to protect his business from situations that threaten his livelihood and are beyond his control. Sohn said that the insurance company denied his claim when he submitted a business disruption claim for the loss of the food and beverage that he had to throw out because it was going to expire while the business was shuttered.When Society Insurance denied Sohn\u2019s claim arising from the state-ordered closure of his business, he turned to Truitt Law Offices for help. The law firm has filed a lawsuit claiming that Society Insurance has breached the obligations it assumed by selling the insurance policy. The lawsuit asks the courts to order Society Insurance to honor its business interruption policy and pay Sohn\u2019s claim.\u201cWe have insurance to cover business interruption and they do everything they can not to pay you,\u201d Sohn told Fox 55 WFFT. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair and I don\u2019t know why we have insurance if they are never going to pay.\u201dWhat is Business Interruption Insurance?Business or income interruption insurance coverage is typically purchased to guard against income lost during an interruption in a business\u2019s ability to operate as usual due to some form of disaster, like a fire or tornado. Policyholders file claims based on \u201cphysical loss or damage\u201d when the loss is caused by situations the policy promises to cover.A business interruption policy may contain language referring to losses \u201cdue to outside forces\u201d and\/or may specifically list exceptions, such as to exclude losses during a pandemic.\u201cIf Society Insurance had wanted to exclude pandemic-related losses under the Plaintiffs\u2019 [Sohn and his business] policies \u2014 as many other insurers have done in other policies \u2014 it easily could have attempted to do so on the front-end with an express exclusion,\u201d Truitt Law Offices says in the lawsuit.Instead, Society Insurance waited until after it collected the business owner\u2019s insurance premiums and after a pandemic and related closure orders to try to limit its losses by erroneously asserting that coronavirus is not \u201cphysical loss,\u201d and therefore is not covered by the policy, the suit says.The lawsuit says further that, as a result of the governor\u2019s closure orders, \u201cPlaintiffs have been forced to halt ordinary operations, resulting in substantial lost revenues and forcing Plaintiffs to furlough or lay off the majority of their employees.\u201dThe complaints says the policy issued by Society Insurance says the insurer will pay for the actual loss of \u201cBusiness Income\u201d sustained by Plaintiffs \u201cdue to the necessary suspension\u201d of Plaintiffs\u2019 operations during the period of business interruption caused by \u201cdirect physical loss of or damage to covered property\u201d at the insured\u2019s premises.Society Insurance Under Fire for Bad Faith Amid COVID-19 OutbreakNearly 20 businesses operating restaurants in the Chicago area have filed lawsuits against Society Insurance over the denial of business interruption claims by the Wisconsin-based insurer, according to Insurance Journal.As in the Indiana claim, the Chicago-area businesses say they are due payment under commercial business insurance policies, \u201cwhich provide coverage for losses incurred due to a \u2018necessary suspension\u2019 of their operations, including when their businesses are forced to close due to a government order.\u201dThe Chicago businesses claim Society Insurance\u00a0issued blanket denials of claims for business interruption losses\u00a0related to coronavirus closure orders. The Truitt Law Offices filing makes a similar complaint, stating, \u201cSociety Insurance has accepted the policy premiums [from Sohn] with no intention of providing coverage due to direct physical loss and\/or from a civil authority shutdown due to a global pandemic virus.\u201d\u2018Physical Loss\u2019 in Coronavirus Business Loss ClaimsThe key issue in business interruption lawsuits growing out of the coronavirus pandemic may be whether the restaurant incurred \u201cdirect physical loss or damage.\u201dAs The National Law Review notes, in\u00a0Wakefern Food Corp. v. Liberty Mutual Fire Ins. Co., the Court determined that the term \u201cphysical damage\u201d was ambiguous and should be construed in favor of coverage for a grocery store that suffered loss following a blackout.Similarly, in\u00a0Gregory Packaging Inc. v. Travelers Prop. Cas. Co. of Am., the Court found that \u201ccourts considering non-structural property damage claims have found that buildings rendered uninhabitable by dangerous gasses or bacteria suffered direct physical loss or damage.\u201dFurther, the Truitt Law Offices lawsuit filed on behalf of Sohn and Kaysan\u2019s 5th Down Bar maintains that the Society Insurance policy not only fails to exclude viruses, but also covers shutdowns ordered by civil authorities.About Truitt Law Offices in Fort Wayne, IndianaThe Truitt Law Offices put more than four decades of legal skills to work to help injured businesses, families and individuals from Fort Wayne, Huntington, Indianapolis and throughout the state of Indiana.Richard T. Truitt is a\u00a0Huntington, IN, native\u00a0who studied science before he became a lawyer. After receiving his undergraduate degree in Biology at\u00a0Manchester College\u00a0in 1971, he obtained a master\u2019s degree in Biology at\u00a0Indiana University-Purdue University in Fort Wayne.\u00a0He earned his law degree from the\u00a0University of Toledo School of Law\u00a0in 1975 and was admitted to the\u00a0Indiana Bar the following year. He practices law throughout Indiana.Call\u00a0our law offices in\u00a0Huntington\u00a0and\u00a0Fort Wayne\u00a0at (888) 663-6849 or contact us online to schedule your free initial legal consultation. See how our 40 years of experience in\u00a0Indiana personal injury\u00a0can make a difference in your life."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.truittlawoffices.com\/blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fort Wayne Law Firm Fights to Help Local Businesses with Business Interruption Claim","item":"https:\/\/www.truittlawoffices.com\/blog\/fort-wayne-law-firm-fights-to-help-local-businesses-with-business-interruption-claim\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]