California Supreme Court Issues 7–0 Ruling Restricting COVID Insurance Coverage

Insurance companies score a major win in Thursday’s high court ruling.

A man wearing a mask walks along the Venice Beach boardwalk on the day Los Angeles County reopened its beaches, which had been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in California on May 13, 2020. Mario Tama/Getty Images

The California Supreme Court on Thursday issued a 7–0 ruling that sided with an insurance company against businesses that were shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying they did not suffer property damage that was covered by insurance.

In an opinion written by Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero and signed by all the justices on the state’s high court, the judges found that COVID-19 does not cause the type of damage to property that would trigger coverage under an insurance policy.