ARCHIVED: This Practice Note was archived and is not maintained. Unlike conventional perils such as fire or flood, an outbreak of a virus cannot so easily be located at a particular place and time. The 2020 coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and consequent government action therefore presented insurers with a novel Loss scenario, in relation to which the factual complexities arising were compounded by a lack of clear judicial Authority on some of the key issues that the scenario posed in the context of business interruption claims, including:

1. •

   the proper construction of composite insured perils in non-damage business interruption polices (ie, the so-called ‘disease’, ‘prevention of access’ and ‘hybrid’ clauses)

2. •

   the correct approach to causation in the context of so-called ‘wide-area’ perils, which are apt to result in damage not only to the insured property but also to the surrounding area

3. •

   identification of the proximate cause of a loss where there is a multitude of competing causes, some of which