Virus Exclusion Bars Coverage for Shoe Wholesaler’s COVID-19 Losses, N.Y. Federal Judge Rules

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge has dismissed a footwear wholesaler’s COVID-19 coverage action against ACE Property and Casualty Insurance Co. and its parent company Chubb Limited, ruling that the policy’s virus exclusion applies to the alleged losses.

In a Jan. 28 order, Judge Katherine P. Failla of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York accepted the insurers’ argument that United Footwear Group LLC’s losses originated from the COVID-19 virus and are therefore barred from coverage.

United Footwear closed its three New York showrooms on March 23 in compliance with stay-at-home orders issued by …