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UPDATE: The Top Class Actions Canada Coronavirus Business Interruption Insurace Coverage investigation is now open. If you are a British Columbia business owner who was forced to temporarily close due to COVID-19, and had your insurance claim denied, submit your information here!
The Royal Canadian Legion has filed an Aviva Insurance class action lawsuit alleging the company failed to adhere to the terms of its insurance policies when it came to veterans’ COVID-19 claims.
According to the lead plaintiff, the Victory Branch of the Legion based in London, Ont., Aviva Insurance wrongly denied “loss of business use” claims made by the legions in the early days of the pandemic. The legions say that the insurance company’s denial has put them in dire straits.
The proposed Aviva Insurance claim class action lawsuit includes 625 Legion branches as plaintiffs and alleges that Aviva Insurance denied the legions’ claims based on a very narrow reading of their policies. The plaintiffs points to a “loss of business use” component of their Aviva policy that they and other legions made insurance claims under.
According to the complaint, the Aviva policy the plaintiff claims that they and other Class Members say they relied on to carry them through the shutdowns covers “an outbreak of a contagious or infectious disease that is required by law to be reported to government authorities.”
However, Aviva Insurance is asserting that the term “outbreak” does not cover the current situation, specifically the COVID-19 “pandemic.”
“The insurance is denying coverage on the basis that they do not feel that a pandemic is the equivalent to an outbreak,” a lawyer representing the plaintiffs and proposed Class Members explained to Insurance Business Canada.
The Aviva Insurance class action lawsuit is seeking $20 million in damages, with the lead plaintiff and their lawyers reportedly noting that the exact economic loss to the 625 branches of the legions during the COVID-19 closure will take time to assess.
According to Insurance Business Canada, Aviva Canada is a UK-subsidiary of Aviva plc, one of the world’s largest insurance groups. Its roots in Canada go back to the 1800s and the company offers a wide array of insurance products to Canadians.
According to CTV News, the coronavirus pandemic related shutdowns, as well as the denial of insurance claims have put many branches of the legion at risk. Nearly 500 branches reportedly face financial hardship, with 124 of those branches likely to close permanently.
“[The Aviva Insurance class action lawsuit] is a last resort,” the treasurer for the Victory Branch told CTV News reporters. “We have to remember legions are in a desperate situation right now, quite desperate.”
According to Insurance Business Canada, the Victory Branch treasurer also noted “[i]f things don’t change very quickly there will be branches that will not open again because of this pandemic.”
Insurance Business also reports that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that the government of Canada is working with Veterans Affairs to help secure support for the Royal Canadian Legion and similar groups.
“The legion really is the heart of the community,” the treasurer of the Victoria Branch told CTV News reporters. “When you hurt the legion, you’re not only hurting veterans and their dependants, you’re hurting all the other community groups that we support.”
For its part, Aviva Insurance told CTV News that it could not comment publicly on pending litigation.
Denied COVID-19 Insurance Claims Put Canadian Businesses in Tough Spot
The Royal Canadian Legion’s Aviva Insurance class action lawsuit is not the first legal action lodged by Canadian business owners over denied insurance claims. A proposed class action lawsuit was filed against a number of major insurance companies in Canada on behalf of business owners.
The companies included in this class action lawsuit are Aviva Canada Inc., Desjardins Financial Security Life Assurance Company, Economical Insurance, Intact Financial Corp., Lloyd’s Canada, Lloyd’s Underwriters, Northbridge General Insurance Corp., Royal & Sun Alliance, TD General Insurance Co., Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Co., Wynward Holdings, Wynward Insurance Group, and Co-Operators General Insurance Company. Lawyers representing the plaintiffs say that the class action lawsuit is a multibillion-dollar action.
Several weeks later, a construction material business filed a class action lawsuit against Intact Insurance over denied COVID-19 claims. The lead plaintiff alleges that the business suffered over a million dollars in losses when coronavirus shut downs were implemented at the beginning of the pandemic. The business owner says that Intact Insurance outright denied his business interruption insurance claim with no room for negotiation. These decisions, claims the proposed class action lawsuit, leave Canadian businesses in a precarious position and threaten their survival.
Are you a Canadian business owner whose COVID-19 claim was denied by Aviva Insurance Company? Tell us what happened in the comment section below.
The lead plaintiff and proposed Class Members in the Aviva Insurance class action lawsuit is Lerners Lawyers of London.
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UPDATE: The Top Class Actions Canada Coronavirus Business Interruption Insurace Coverage investigation is now open. If you are a British Columbia business owner who was forced to temporarily close due to COVID-19, and had your insurance claim denied, submit your information here!