Businesses in the UK have less than a year to file any remaining Covid-19-related business interruption claims before they are time-barred.

Five years since the first lockdown was imposed, BI specialists at Fenchurch Law are highlighting that the limitation period for Covid-19 BI claims is set to expire in March 2026, leaving affected businesses with less than 12 months to initiate what can be a lengthy process.

Over the last five years, a series of high-profile battles between insurers and policyholders in the UK over BI wordings have expanded the scope of BI policies.

Fenchurch Law’s managing partner, Joanna Grant, says brokers should act quickly to improve their clients' chances of success.

“Many industries were decimated by the pandemic that swept the world in 2020, with few more severely impacted than the hospitality industry, the long periods of lockdown taking a significant toll," she said. “During the last five years, we’ve fought for clients to get a fair outcome from their insurers. Though the pandemic was unprecedented, insurance policy wordings should be fair, proportionate and transparent and we have found time and time again, that this was not the case. We’re still coming up against legal challenges regarding how to apply policy wordings, most recently the Non-Damage Denial of Access appeal brought by Liberty, which found for policyholders in holding that in composite policies, 'any one loss' limits applied separately to each policyholder rather than in aggregate across all policyholders."

Fenchurch is also involved in new cases being issued in court, including a claim brought by the owner of the Franco Manca chain of pizzerias against QIC in respect of their Covid-19 losses.

“For some businesses, there may be a long road ahead, so we urge brokers start talking to clients now, long before the liability period runs out,” Grant added.

---