Business Interruption Insurance in the Wake of the Gulf Oil Spill – What Insurers Can Do to Keep Slippery Claims at Bay
As the environmental and economic consequences of the Gulf Oil Spill unfold, law firms specializing in insurance recovery have commenced aggressive efforts to recruit policyholders to make claims for business interruption losses. Hurricanes Katrina, Hugo and others have yielded their fair share of business interruption insurance disputes, some of which are still wending their way through the courts. The resulting opinions are sometimes difficult to reconcile. Two basic questions frequently arise. First, was the claimed business interruption loss, in fact, caused by physical damage to the insured property (rather than by the broader impact of the catastrophe at large)? Second, if it was, how do Gulf State courts measure that business interruption loss?