Temporary Loss of Property Did Not Trigger Coverage, Calif. Federal Judge Rules

SAN FRANCISCO — Citizens Insurance Company of America is not liable to pay a San Francisco event planner’s COVID-19 losses because the business did not permanently lose possession of its premises as a result of government stay-at-home orders, a federal judge has ruled.

In a Dec. 9 order, Judge Charles Breyer of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the policy’s definition of “direct physical loss of or damage to” property contemplates that the property is unrecoverable. In the instant case, Robert W. Fountain Inc. was only temporarily barred from using its business premises during …