Ann: Trading Halt, page-54

AFR today reports that “In the US, states including Ohio, New York and Massachusetts threw a curveball at the insurance industry when they drafted legislation aimed to make insurers pay billions of dollars in claims on business interruption insurance policies regardless of whether the policy contains exclusions for communicable diseases or viruses such as COVID-19.”

“Like most US insurers, QBE’s policies exclude loss or damage resulting from a virus. But if the legislation becomes law these exclusions would be irrelevant and the insurers would become embroiled in costly legal action to challenge the law.”

The US would be the last place you would expect to see retroactive laws that impact businesses who have done nothing wrong.