In a published decision filed March 7, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Uncork and Create LLC v. The Cincinnati Insurance Company, affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia’s judgment dismissing the case, holding that unambiguous terms of an insurance policy did not permit businesses to recover for loss of income resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In March 2020, Uncork and Create LLC (Uncork) operated two business locations in West Virginia. However, due to the emergence of COVID-19, the Governor declared a state of emergency and issued an executive order requiring non-essential businesses in West Virginia to temporarily cease operations. In compliance, Uncork closed its two locations and suffered a substantial loss of business income. One location reopened, but the other remained permanently closed. Uncork filed a claim with its insurer under its commercial…
