21 September 2020
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French insurer Axa will appeal a Paris commercial court ruling ordering it to pay five restaurant owners who had to close during coronavirus lockdowns.
Axa has been in the centre of a countrywide row over whether insurers must honour policies as businesses were forced to shut during lockdown. The insurance giant has won a number of cases on the basis that its policy coverage did not include Covid-19 pandemic protection.
However, one restaurant owner secured an early victory against Axa in May, leading him to a settlement with the insurer, Reuters reported.
Axa is in negotiation with several of its policyholders regarding the pandemic coverage. The company has also rejected some of the claims.
At least one trade association, representing 37 high-end restaurants, has moved with legal action against the French insurer so that "it honours its policies".
Axa said that the court ruling set a confusing legal precedent and that it would appeal.
"While we remain very worried by the extent of the financial consequences of lockdown measures for many of our clients, we cannot pay out on events explicitly excluded from our contracts," Jacques de Peretti, the chief executive of Axa France said in a statement.
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