Eyes on the Law is a weekly column by Maria Ward-Brennan focused on the legal sector.

The covid pandemic exposed us to a lot of new things, including flexible working, but in a world of disputes, it resulted in an influx of business interruption (BI) cases in the courtroom.

The issues stem from the wording of BI insurance policies which went to a rushed appeal at the Supreme Court in 2021 by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in a ‘test case’.

However, because of gaps, insurance lawyers became very sought after by businesses.

Insurance law is not the hottest seat a lawyer can sit in. However, this unexpected ‘once in a lifetime’ event we experienced as a result of the pandemic, shooed these lawyers in the limelight.

There have been countless notable cases in front of the courts, arguing over details left out in that ‘test case’, including causation, treatment of furlough and business rates relief.

As Aaron Le Marquer, partner at law firm Stewarts explained, “the cases have demonstrated the importance of insurance law to businesses large and small.”

He pointed out that “disputes over the interpretation of policy wordings have meant in many cases the difference between a business surviving or falling into insolvency.”

Pub company Stonegate Group, restaurant chain owner Various Eateries and Greggs all pursued claims against their insurers, with all three claims heard together. However, the High Court ruled broadly in favour of the insurers in October 2022.

All three businesses went on to appeal but Stonegate and Greggs decided to settle with their respective insurers. Various Eateries went to a trial at the Court of Appeal, but settled its case with Allianz for £16.4m after a ruling in its favour.

Another headline-catching case was the swarm of Premier League football clubs, including Arsenal, Liverpool, and West Ham, that merged together for multi-party lawsuit against six major insurers.