Introduction
As the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) continues to impact
businesses, insurance companies continue to face business
interruption claims. As most commercial property policies
typically insure against "direct physical loss to the
property", an inquiry into causation is required to determine
coverage. Determining causation and coverage can become more
complicated where there are multiple potential causes of the
loss.
Take, for example, the following scenario: Business A owns a
piece of machinery, which is part of the insured premises.
Prior to the pandemic, that machinery suffered direct physical
damage, necessitating temporary closure of the business.
Business A is awaiting completion of the repairs, which are
scheduled to take two to three weeks. The losses associated
with the equipment downtime and business closure are not COVID-19
related and fall within the scope of business interruption
coverage. However, within the original two to three
