On 22nd July 2025, the Commercial Court handed down a further judgment in Bath Racecourse & ors v Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe SE & ors, the latest in a string of business interruption insurance disputes arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sean O’Sullivan KC, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge, considered various preliminary issues relevant to coverage. This was the second tranche of preliminary issues in the case following those determined by the Mr Justice Jacobs in the Commercial Court last year ([2024] EWHC 124 (Comm)) some of which were then the subject of an appeal to the Court of Appeal earlier this year ([2025] EWCA Civ 153).
The most significant issue before the Court on this occasion was the meaning of the £2.5m limit, which the policy stated applied “any one loss”. The policyholders’ argument that they were entitled to a separate £2.5m limit for each of the 1,255 races affected by governmental and other restrictions imposed during the pandemic – i.e. total cover exceeding £3bn – was rejected. Instead, the Court concluded that the limit applied per premises and per relevant restriction, but measures which either maintained or reduced existing restrictions did not count.
The full judgment can be found here.
David Scorey KC and David Walsh KC acted for insurers, instructed by Ian Plumley, Tomas Amaral and Lucy Dennison of DAC Beachcroft LLP.
