Georgia Judge Serves Ruling for Restaurants Hoping Business Income Insurance Will Cover COVID-19 Losses

3 Min Read By Christy Maple, Kristin Tucker

Although no industry has been immune to the economic devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, the restaurant industry has been among the hardest and most visibly ravaged. Restaurants around the country shuttered their dining rooms for months due to COVID-19, most in direct response to state and local orders mandating their closure. Unfortunately, many will never re-open. 

As the surviving restaurants reopen and attempt to regain solid financial footing, many will look to their business insurance policies to try to recoup the income they lost. However, a recent ruling from a federal judge in Georgia may mean restaurant owners need to look elsewhere for financial relief.

In Henry’s Louisiana Grill, Inc. v. Allied Insurance Company of America, two Georgia eateries sued their insurer after it refused to reimburse them for business income the eateries lost when they closed their doors in response to the Georgia governor’s executive order declaring a state of emergency in response…