Kathmandu. Uk businessmen, who have suffered losses due to Covid-19, have started a legal battle against insurance companies after their claims were not paid.
The owners of 69 small businesses have filed a legal battle against London-based insurance company Bijley Group to get insurance claims paid. “I didn’t panic as much as the Covid-induced lockdown,” said Serena Russell, who runs a tattoo business in Walsel. ’
Russell’s family has been in the tattoo business for the last 27 years. “When the Covid pandemic spread and the country went into lockdown,” Russell said, “I knew that business barriers were insured. I was hoping to get compensated. ’
However, The Bijli Group refused to pay claims to covid-hit small businesses like Russell. The company claims that business barrier insurance is not designed to cover the national lockdown.
Russell, who owns The Underground Tattoo Studio, has been paying for insurance for 15 years. She pays £46 a month for insurance. “The question is why insurance didn’t cover my business insurance?” she told the BBC, adding, “When you take business barrier insurance it doesn’t say it’s not covered for the pandemic.” So you feel that your business will be fully covered. Even if your business is closed and insurance says the same. ’
Russell complained that she was forced to take a bounced back loan when the insurance company did not compensate her. She has been paying the loan amount for the last five years.
Russell’s business was closed for 10 months because it was difficult to comply with the government’s instructions to stay two meters away from people while making tattoos. Describing the entire experience as painful, she said, “The business is running because of my loyal customers. ’
Lucy Foster of Tamworth, Staffordshire, has a beauty clinic called Lucy Foster Wellness Clinic. He also had a training school in birmingham’s jewelry quarter. However, after the outbreak of the epidemic, it had to be closed.
Lucy also paid a premium for business barrier insurance with The Beasley Group. However, she said that the company had to stop the expansion of the business due to non-payment of claims. She also said that she had to take a bounce back loan of 25,000 pounds. “Which I’m still paying,” she said.
Birmingham-based lawyer Chris Guy is fighting the case of the victim businesses. Talking about bijli group’s insurance policy, Guy said, “It seems legally that the insurance policy has enough words to cover the pandemic. This is a shutdown as a result of the government’s denial of access to property. Covid was an emergency at that time. As a result, the government decided to take strict action and close these businesses. In our opinion, the words in that insurance policy cover that situation. ’
Guy said he can file a legal complaint only by March 2026. “Because the insurance claim can be paid for six years after the incident,” he said. The first lockdown was announced in March 2020 due to the pandemic.
