Devlin Hotel loses Covid closure insurance cover case

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The Devlin Hotel lost its business interruption insurance claim at the High Court, reported on 30 March 2022; the case concerned its Covid-19 closure in Ranelagh, Dublin.

Mr Justice Denis McDonald found that the policy required a notifiable disease to manifest at the hotel. He concluded the hotel had not proved a symptomatic or diagnosed case there, or detection of the pathogen on the premises.

The ruling resolved the main issue in the test case and was expected to affect other RSA policyholders. The judge adjourned the proceedings to April to consider whether further issues remained and what steps were needed to conclude them.