‘Epidemic’ Exclusion Defeats Travel Insurance Lawsuit, 8th Cir. Affirms

ST. LOUIS — A federal appellate panel has upheld dismissal of a lawsuit seeking travel insurance proceeds following a COVID-19-related flight cancellation, affirming that it fell under the policies’ “epidemic” exclusion.

In a Feb. 9 opinion, the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found an ordinary person would conclude that the World Health Organization "recognized" COVID-19 as either a pandemic or an epidemic by including COVID-19 on its list of pandemic or epidemic diseases.

The panel further found the plaintiff's flight cancellation resulted from the COVID-19 epidemic and the epidemic affected the plaintiff.

Logan Bauer booked a round-trip …