Miami Restaurants Say Business Interruption Coverage Not Limited to Structural Damage

MIAMI — A group of Miami restaurant owners are urging a federal judge to allow their business interruption coverage action to proceed against Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, arguing that the policy term “direct physical loss of or damage to” property does not connote only structural damage.

In an Aug. 17 reply filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the owners of the El Novillo group of restaurants maintain that the temporary loss of their property for its intended use qualifies as a “direct physical loss.”

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida governor Ron …