Real Estate Firm Not Covered for COVID-19 Losses, Fla. Federal Judge Rules

MIAMI — A national real estate and investment firm cannot recoup COVID-19-related losses from Endurance Specialty Insurance Co. because it did not sustain “direct physical loss or damage” to its properties, a Florida federal judge has ruled.

In a Sept. 8 order, Judge Darrin P. Gayles of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Miami found Frontier Investment Co.’s economic losses were not caused by some physical problem with its covered property; therefore, coverage was not triggered.

Frontier owns and leases several commercial properties throughout the United States. When local and state officials issued orders restricting public access …