Washington Dentists Allege Insurance Cos. Wrongfully Denied COVID-19-Related Damage Claims [UPDATE]
Last Updated on July 21, 2021
Marler v. Aspen American Insurance Company
Filed: April 22, 2020 ◆§ 2:20-cv-00616
Washington dental practices allege a number of insurers have wrongfully denied their COVID-19-related damage claims.
Case Updates
July 29, 2020 – Aspen Hit with Lawsuit in Kansas
A Kansas dentist has filed suit against Aspen American Insurance Company over its alleged refusal to cover COVID-19-related loss claims.
Echoing the cases detailed on this page, the 30-page lawsuit charges that although the plaintiff’s Aspen commercial insurance policy purported to provide coverage for the types of losses suffered when the man was forced to suspend operations due to the pandemic, Aspen has refused to pay his claim.
The case alleges that the plaintiff’s experience “is not unique” and reflects the response of the insurance industry as a whole to COVID-19-related claims.
“The insurance industry appears to be taking a uniform approach to the current pandemic: deny coverage even when the policy they drafted and offered to insureds, and the policy paid for by the insureds, does not contain an exclusion for pandemic- or virus-related losses,” the complaint reads. “Plaintiff’s policy with Defendant is one such policy and exemplifies the broken promises of insurance companies across the country.”
Read the full complaint here.
Separate proposed class action lawsuits filed by Washington dental practices allege the Aspen American Insurance Company, the Dentists Insurance Company and Sentinel Insurance Company Limited have wrongfully denied claims for COVID-19 business closure damages submitted by all-risk policyholders.
The lawsuits stress that all non-essential businesses, including the plaintiffs’ dental practices, were prohibited from operating after Washington Governor Jay Inslee issued on March 23 the state’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order. While the practices were not prohibited from performing urgent or emergency procedures, the plaintiffs claim their properties sustained covered, direct physical loss and/or damages related to Governor Inslee’s temporary shuttering of non-essential businesses.
“Plaintiff’s property cannot be used for its intended purposes,” the complaints read.
The complaint filed against Aspen American Insurance Company claims the plaintiff held one or more policies promising to cover “all risk of direct physical loss” and containing practice income, extra expense, extended practice income and civil authority coverages effective between September 2019 and September 2020. According to the case, Aspen America has wrongfully denied coverage for damages to the plaintiff’s property that stemmed from COVID-19 and/or Washington’s stay-at-home orders.
Ringing similar, the lawsuits against the Dentists Insurance Company and Sentinel Insurance Company Limited, which faces at least its second case over allegedly wrongful claims denials in recent weeks, say the groups breached their contracts with policyholders in declining to cover direct physical loss and/or damage claims submitted amid the COVID-19 crisis.
As the COVID-19 pandemic rolls on, a wave of lawsuits has been filed against insurers—including Cincinnati Insurance Co., Hartford Underwriters, Liberty Mutual, Westchester Surplus Lines Insurance Co., Chubb, Travelers and Continental Casualty Co.—over their allegedly wrongful denial of claims submitted by businesses who allege damages they’ve incurred while shut down during the pandemic are covered by their respective policies.
The lawsuits can be found below.
ClassAction.org’s coverage of COVID-19 litigation can be found here and over on our Newswire.
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