This assignment could be the first in a long list. A Parisian restaurateur is about to attack his insurer who refuses to compensate for his operating loss linked to the closure of his business due to the coronavirus and containment measures.
Stéphane Manigold, president of the Eclore group at the head of four restaurants in the capital, will summon before the Paris Commercial Court his insurer Axa. His lawyer, Me Anaïs Sauvage, has made his calculations and claims a provision of 75,000 euros for the operating loss of only one of these four establishments.
In most insurance contracts, loss of income is not covered in the absence of damage, as is the case with the Covid-19 pandemic. However, certain clauses cover, against a substantial premium, operating loss without damage under certain conditions. This is precisely the case of Stéphane Manigold.
Axa defends its position
"The guarantee defined in my insurance policy provides an extension for operating losses in the event of an administrative closure imposed by the police or health or safety services, but this is exactly what is happening to me", protested the business manager, who emphasized that he had the support of his broker, the Satec company, itself a subsidiary of Axa!
According to the Axa group, no compensation is possible since "the measures to combat the spread of the Covid-19 virus have been taken by the government on a national basis and not for a single establishment by the police or health services or security as referred to in the guarantee ”. A way to play on words? The spokesperson for Axa France denies this.
“This type of policy protects against an individual risk in the event of an administrative closure, linked to a breach on the part of the merchant for example and not against a collective risk such as a pandemic. "And to recall that the total amount of business operating losses linked to the pandemic is 20 billion euros per month. A sum of 60 billion euros over three months which would bring the sector to its knees.
Thousands of restaurateurs in the same case
"It is not a question of hitting insurers," explains the head of the company, "but of asserting our right to all because I am far from alone in this case. He and his lawyer, Me Anaïs Sauvage, estimate that at least ten thousand restaurateurs would be insured without knowing it and invite them to take a close look at their contract. Already, around fifty restaurateurs are thinking of assigning their insurance companies in a concerted manner.
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Ironically, at the same time this Wednesday, the French Insurance Federation (FFA) confirmed during a press conference to increase its aid by doubling in particular its contribution to the solidarity fund (from 200 to 400 million euros) , to cover VSEs in the event of late payment and to finance an investment fund of 1.5 billion euros in aid to businesses. And it is this week that the profession must begin discussions to create a "health disaster regime" on the model of that existing for natural disasters.