Hartford Financial Services Group, The Travelers Cos. Inc. and other insurers won’t have to face a consolidation of hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of business-interruption claims tied to the COVID-19 outbreak, a group of judges concluded, Bloomberg News reported. Having one judge oversee more than 1,000 cases -- grouped by individual insurers -- would be too cumbersome, and it’s more efficient to have courts around the U.S. decide whether the coronavirus fallout triggered coverage by major insurers such as Hartford, Travelers and Lloyds of London, the legal panel ruled Friday. The group did agree to have a federal judge in Chicago oversee cases against Society Insurance, a smaller carrier. It was the last gasp of plaintiffs’ lawyers attempting to pull together business-interruption cases against major insurers. They’re seeking to recover losses from the economic blows wrought by the virus, which prompted a wave of bankruptcy filings. They argued that having one judge oversee the litigation would cut duplication and hold down legal costs. “Rather than have one judge attempt to organize and resolve the core policy interpretation issues,” having judges already hearing the cases decide whether coverage exists “will result in quicker and more efficient resolution of this litigation,” U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell, the panel’s chair, said in a nine-page order. Insurers warn that the tidal wave of business-interruption suits could swamp them. Analysts warned this year that the industry could face at least $100 billion in losses from the pandemic, which could wind up being the most in insurance history.
