Broadway was hit surprisingly by the pandemic. Insurance companies decided not to pay out if the reasons were tied to the pandemic. One prominent example was the producers behind Tine and Harry Potter; both paid their premiums to cover this risk of cancellation of performances. The producers submitted their insurance claim when shut orders came last March. Show’s unable to collect insurance payouts means reopening will be more challenging, especially if tourists have not returned.
“One recent poll found that only 28 percent of Americans now feel comfortable returning to movie theaters, and research suggests that older individuals are more reluctant, which does not bode well for Broadway, where the largest group of theatergoers are between the ages of 50 and 64.”
A provision the insurance coverage excluded was any “loss resulting from “any communicable disease or threat or fear of communicable disease (whether actual or perceived) which leads to: the imposition of quarantine or restriction in movement of people … by any national or international body or agency.” In other words, if “any national or international body or agency” made people quarantine or blocked them from moving around due to a communicable disease, then the insurance company did not need to pay the producers.”
“Despite … having paid substantial premiums to cover the risk of cancellation of performances of The Tina Turner Musical, Chubb placed its own financial interests above those of its policyholder and wrongfully denied [the producer] ‘s claim,” their attorneys argued.
– Excerpt from an article for Forbes by Marc Hershberg. Read the full article here.
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