Zurich Disclaims Liability for D.C. Restaurants’ $2 Million COVID-19 Claim

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Zurich American Insurance Co. seeks a ruling that it is not liable for $2 million in COVID-19-related losses sustained by the owners of several Washington, D.C. fine dining restaurants, arguing that the virus did not cause “direct physical loss of or damage to” the insured property.

In a Nov. 20 complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the insurer further argues that there was no “direct physical loss of or damage to” any property within one mile of the restaurants’ properties, or a “dependent premises.”

“In addition, Defendants did not sustain …