Czech Republic

Has the official regulator/authority intervened to help resolve contractual uncertainty around the validity of BI claims?

Not yet.

In the Czech Republic, insurance companies are supervised by the Czech National Bank and the Ministry of Finance. The Czech Insurance Association also operates as a self-regulatory body.

However, none of the abovementioned authorities has officially commented on the issue of the impact of the pandemic situation on liabilities from insurance contracts regarding BI insurance. This may be due to the fact that BI insurance is not yet very common in the Czech Republic (unlike property and liability insurance).

Do insurance policies in your jurisdiction generally restrict BI to losses directly resulting from physical damage?

It depends on the situation.

According to the Czech Insurance Association’s representative, BI insurance generally only covers financial loss resulting from physical damage, such as a natural disaster, theft or robbery. The current situation, where entrepreneur’ businesses were interrupted due to the pandemic, is therefore generally not covered by BI insurance in most cases.

Some insurers also offer BI insurance for interruptions due to an official decision. However, such policies were designed to cover losses caused by individual official decisions of local extent rather than by nation-wide measures. For example, if as a result of floods, the Hygiene Office issues a decision to close a business resulting in a loss due to the interruption of the business.

It can be argued that the current COVID-19 measures are excluded from such policies as they are general (rather than individual) official decisions, and have no direct link to the insured business. According to statements from individual private insurance companies, insurance contracts generally do not cover business interruption due to general official decisions that aim at the whole country, as a result of a pandemic situation.

Are there any court proceedings currently dealing with the validity of BI claims? 

No.

Certainly, we can expect lawsuits concerning BI claims. However, none have been published to date.

Have any judgments been given that deal with BI claims in relation to the current COVID-19 pandemic or other contagious/infectious diseases?

No.

Name of regulator, websites and articles of interest

Website of the Czech National Bank (in English):

https://www.cnb.cz/en/supervision-financial-market/legislation/insurance-and-reinsurance-companies-insurance-intermediaries/

Website of the Ministry of Finance (in English):

https://www.mfcr.cz/en/themes/insurance

Website of the Czech Insurance Association (in Czech):

http://www.cap.cz/vse-o-pojisteni/pojisteni-podnikatelu

Articles of interest (in Czech):

https://www.tzb-info.cz/facility-management/20473-pojistovny-v-dobe-koronavirove
https://www.podnikatel.cz/clanky/pojisteni-preruseni-provozu-je-v-teto-situaci-na-nic-pojistovny-zvazuji-zmeny/
https://www.seznamzpravy.cz/clanek/pojistili-se-proti-urednimu-zasahu-penize-za-koronavirovou-stopku-neuvidi-100487
https://www.opojisteni.cz/spektrum/koronavirus/covid-19-zasahl-ruzne-obory-pojisteni-odlisne/c:19122/

Statements of individual insurance companies on BI insurance within context of the COVID-19 situation:

https://www.ibs-group.cz/covid-19-pojisteni-preruseni-provozu/t1233