Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
UK insurance company Beazley Underwriting has gone on the offensive in a lawsuit lodged against LA Fitness contending that the gym chain cannot use its $100 million business interruption insurance policy to cover COVID-19 losses.
Beazley, one of the many companies that insures the gym chain with 700 locations in the US, filed the complaint in California federal court on Tuesday. In it, the insurance company argues that the owner of LA Fitness, Fitness International LLC, should be barred from using the policy to cover business losses it suffered due to COVID lockdowns issued in various locations throughout the past year.
“The Policy excludes any losses arising from communicable disease, contamination, loss of market, loss of use, microorganisms, or the threat of anything which endangers or threatens to endanger the health, safety, or welfare of persons,” claimed Beazley of the business interruption policy it sold to LA Fitness.
The UK insurance company also accused the owner of LA Fitness of failing to work with Beazley, instead allegedly threatening legal action. The lawsuit also points out that the gym chain has launched a lawsuit in Washington state against other insurance companies over its business interruption claims.
Indeed, business owners and insurers have been fighting over interruption coverage in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and related restrictions. Government-mandated lockdowns forced many gyms and other businesses to close their doors. A number of class action lawsuits have been filed against major insurance companies claiming that they are failing to honor their business interruption policies.
Beazley, a UK insurance company, may be on the hook after the British Supreme Court ruled that small businesses in the country may be entitled to about £1.2 billion in compensation from insurers for COVID losses in January.
Nor has LA Fitness escaped legal action over coronavirus closures. In December an Illinois man claimed LA Fitness continued to charge him and other gym-goers membership fees even as they closed their facilities across the nation in the spring of 2020 due to COVID-19.
Do you think insurance companies should cover business interruption claims due to COVID-19 losses? Tell us in the comment section below!
Plaintiff, Beazley Underwriting, is represented by James L. Wraith and Sara M. Parker of Selvin Wraith Halman LLP.
The LA Fitness Business Interruption Class Action is Beazley Underwriting Ltd. v. Fitness International LLC, Case No. 8:21-cv-00642, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
- Coronavirus Business Interruption Insurance Lawsuit Investigation
- Do You Qualify: Florida College Fees Refund | COVID Class Action Lawsuit Investigation
- LA Fitness Unlawfully Enriched by Membership Fees During COVID-19, Says Class Action Lawsuit
- A Complete Guide to Coronavirus Lawsuits & Legal Issues
