hospitality
Insured – just not against Corona?
Restaurateur Marco Ceccaroli in front of his Bellavista restaurant. Photo: Axel Heimken/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Tens of thousands of companies have insured themselves in the event of officially ordered closures, but received a rejection during the corona lockdowns. The pitfalls are in the details.
In March 2020, the pandemic was really there – and Marco Ceccaroli had to close his restaurant “Bellavista” in the Baltic Sea resort of Travemünde for two months.
“There was panic at first. And the fear of slipping into bankruptcy,” says the 53-year-old. “There was no state aid back then.” A second lockdown followed in November 2020, this time for five months.
But Ceccaroli felt secure, as he had taken out additional business closure insurance. This is intended, for example, to compensate for lost income and ongoing operating costs such as rent or wage payments for employees. Ceccaroli wanted around 40,000 euros from the insurance company he had been with from the start. “As a layman, I understand that I’m covered if the worst comes to the worst.”
But the courts saw it differently: Because the corona pandemic is not explicitly mentioned in the contract, the insurance company did not have to pay anything. He rejected an offer of around 7,000 euros, says the restaurateur. He is now moving to the Federal Court of Justice (BGH). After two defeats, he assesses the chances as “not so good”.
The highest German civil court will deal with the subject for the first time this Wednesday (9:00 a.m.). (Az. IV ZR 144/21) The insurance and gastronomy sectors are accordingly eagerly awaiting a decision. It is unclear whether it will come on Wednesday.
The General Association of the German Insurance Industry (GDV) assumed around 73,000 company closure contracts at the beginning of the pandemic – with around 3.5 million companies across all sectors of the economy in Germany. The business closure insurance is not intended for a business interruption, for example after a fire, but specifically, for example, for catering businesses, canteen kitchens or for companies that produce food. If the norovirus breaks out in a hotel or if an ice cream parlor has to close temporarily because of salmonella, the insurance companies will take action.
This is exactly where the crux lies: Because neither Covid-19 nor Sars-CoV-2 were named in Ceccaroli’s policy – taken out before the pandemic – he failed in the courts. So what is insured depends very much on the exact wording: Does the insurance apply, for example, as a flat rate or only if a health department closes a specific company? Is there a general reference to the Federal Infection Protection Act or to a version from a specific point in time?
The insurance companies acted accordingly in different ways: some paid, others did not. In some cases, both sides settled out of court. The Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs had obtained a compromise, according to which 10 to 15 percent of the agreed daily rates should be paid out. According to GDV information, around one billion euros have been paid for insured damage under business closure insurance in the past two years – the main part with around 900 million in 2020.
If disputes ended up in court, they usually ended in favor of the insurer: The GDV refers to 470 first-instance proceedings, of which about one in ten was decided against the members. In the appeals process, 95 percent ended for the insurers. Nevertheless, there are still umpteen unresolved conflicts: according to a spokesman, around 160 comparable proceedings are pending at the Federal Court of Justice alone. The number changes almost daily.
The general manager of the hotel and restaurant association Dehoga, Ingrid Hartges, hopes in her own words for a “trend reversal”. According to the Insurance Contract Act, insurers must “always act honestly, honestly and professionally in their best interests” in the interests of their customers. A long list of dozens of diseases or the legal interpretation of formulations could be overwhelming. “Restaurateurs are not scientists.”
Axa insurance, which is now the defendant, did not want to comment further before the hearing. However, the group welcomes the fact that the BGH is dealing with the question of the scope of business closure insurance. This creates legal certainty in identical cases.
For the future, however, a judgment is unlikely to play a role. According to the GDV, such policies are regularly renewed and have now been adjusted. Ceccaroli also got a new contract, he says. It now says that pandemics are not insured. Two years later, by his own admission, he no longer needs the money. In the meantime, state aid has also flowed.
In 2003, Ceccaroli took over the “Bellavista” from his father. During the lockdowns, he offered take-out sales of Italian cuisine. “But that’s a laughing stock,” he says. In this way you can make five, maybe ten percent of the usual turnover. “But you have no other income, and the rent continues.” The restaurant has around 70 seats inside and 170 outside on the terrace.
That also helped him a lot: “We’ve had incredibly good summers in the last two years,” says Ceccaroli. Many tourists have been to the Baltic Sea. “We’re in a fortunate position here.” Things are different for colleagues in other regions of Germany.