World’s Insurers Await U.K. Covid Ruling With Billions at Stake

Firms including Zurich Insurance and Hiscox could face payouts
Market watchdog FCA brought case seeking clarity on policies

A pedestrian walks past shuttered shops in London on April 15. — A pedestrian walks past shuttered shops in London on April 15.
Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

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By Benjamin Robertson and Lucca de Paoli

September 11, 2020 at 11:01 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Insurers battered by coronavirus are about to find out how much worse the damage could get.

A London court is set to rule Tuesday in a case involving about 370,000 policyholders, companies including Zurich Insurance Group AG and Hiscox Ltd. and potentially billions of pounds of claims. The U.K. markets watchdog brought the case after small businesses struggled to get compensation from insurers for losses suffered during lockdown.