A restaurateur is preparing to summon his insurer, Axa, before the Paris Commercial Court, believing that he is evading his contractual obligations by refusing to compensate for the operating losses caused by the closure of his establishments imposed by the health crisis.
" Axa refuses to execute the contractual guarantee covering compensation for operating losses while no exclusion applies ", said AFP Stéphane Manigold, head of the Eclore group which brings together four Parisian restaurants (La Maison Rostang, Substance, Contraste and Le Bistrot d'à côté Flaubert), employing 52 people.
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According to his lawyer, Me Anaïs Sauvagnac, who will summon the insurer in summary proceedings "in an imminent manner " - the confinement lengthening the procedure a little - the contract of the restaurateur " must guarantee the operating loss " of the establishments " following the closure administrative ordered by the decree of March 14, 2020, taken by the Minister of Health "due to the epidemic of Covid-19.
Uncovered losses
The insurance broker Satec, with whom the insurance contracts for Mr. Manigold's restaurants were taken out, agrees with the insured, " having an objective interpretation and in good faith of the clauses ", believes the lawyer. . In fact, in an email to its customers dated April 8 consulted by AFP, the Satec group states that if “ in general, operating losses are not covered following the occurrence of a virus like Covid- 19 ”, certain contracts compensate the insured in the event of“ administrative closure imposed by the police, health or safety services ”. Stressing that he had " not observed any exclusions specifically targeting epidemics and / or the pandemic in the general conditions " of these contracts, Satec asked Axa to review its " assessment " of the situation of the insured.
Questioned by AFP on Wednesday, Axa says that its contracts do not plan to take care of an " operating loss during decisions by ministerial orders consisting in generally prohibiting public access to certain establishments to fight the spread of a virus ". " The insurability of a risk is based on mutualisation and risk ", pleads the insurer.
However, a closure of " businesses, restaurants, shops " imposed by a government is not a " hazard ", while a pandemic, " by its systemic and global nature, prevents any pooling since the whole of the population is affected at the same time, "he said.