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A Victorian gym owner has launched legal action against his insurer for being refused compensation after the state forced businesses to close last year during the pandemic.
Christopher Blake, an owner of a Jetts gym on the Bellarine Peninsula, claims his insurer denied paying compensation under his business interruption insurance for the two statewide lockdowns.
The small business owner estimates his gym missed out on $235,000 in revenue due to the prolonged shutdown imposed on the nation’s second most populous state.
Mr Blake has lodged action in the Federal Court, saying Hollard Insurance denied compensation as coronavirus was not deemed a “quarantinable disease” under the nation’s Quarantine Act.
Shine Lawyers, which is representing Mr Blake, claims the quarantine laws legislated more than a century ago were made redundant after the country enacted new biosecurity laws in 2015.
Australia’s response to the pandemic, including border closures and shutdowns, has been administered through the biosecurity laws.
Mr Blake’s claim is based on Hollard Insurance denying his payout of up to $450,000 on redundant laws.
Shine Lawyer disputes solicitor Joseph Crane said the NSW Court of Appeal had already ruled in several cases that it was wrong to deny interruption payouts.
“Victorian small businesses paying tens of thousands of dollars for interruption insurance each year rightly expect to be treated fairly when they claim financial assistance in accordance with their policies,” Mr Crane said.
“The financial and emotional strain on small business owners in Victoria can’t be underestimated, and insurers need to pay up now rather than drag this through the courts any longer.”
The Insurance Council of Australia is intending to appeal some of the decisions made by the NSW Court of Appeal in the High Court.
Mr Crane said he was confident the High Court would reject ICA’s appeal.
“Insurance companies instead tried to crab walk away from the wording of their policies, but the NSW Court of Appeal saw right through those attempts, and we’re confident the High Court will reach the same conclusion,” he said.
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