FBD plans to ask court to delay cases taken by most publicans

Insurer FBD says it intends to ask judges at the Commercial Court not to hear additional legal actions taken against it by publicans who say their cover is not being honoured, until a case now underway is decided one way or another.

The move to manage the case load is an indication of the scale of legal actions the insurer is facing from publicans over its refusal to pay out on business interruption cover for losses resulting from the Covid 19 outbreak.

The request for a stay is up to the court and has not yet been considered.

Earlier, several test actions by pub owners over whether their insurance policies with FBD covers the disruption in their trade caused by Covid-19 were admitted to the fast track Commercial Court.

Mr Justice David Barniville was told there could be as many as 1,000 pubs and bars all over the country affected by the dispute.

Analysts at Davy said the situation means it is now more likely that FBD will be unable to pay a dividend to shareholders this year, even though pub policies represent only a small proportion of FBD’s overall business.

FBD says it has applied for a stay - or pause - on all other similar legal proceedings with the aim of using the case now up and running to seek a determination in court to the overall question of whether losses due to Covid-19 related closure, claimed by publicans, are covered by their FBD policy under the business interruption clause.

“The case in question will allow the issue of cover to be decided in a single set of court proceedings, therefore avoiding each pub owner concerned having to take their own legal actions and incurring the related costs,” FBD said.