TAMPA, Fla. — Small business owners have tried to rely on business interruption insurance claims to curb COVID-19 losses, but insurance companies say it doesn’t fall into their policies.
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Chef Jeannie Pierola, the creative mind behind Tampa eateries Counter Culture, Edison and Swigamajig, was forced to shut down in March due to COVID-19.
“This has proven to be the most challenging thing I’ve ever experienced with regard to this industry and basically in life,” she said.
Doing takeout from her Counter Culture location just wasn’t cutting it.
So, she turned to her business interruption insurance, hoping to offset economic losses.
Her claim was denied.
“To deny us because of a virus and ignore the government shutdown, that doesn’t seem fair and equitable at all,” she said.
Her insurance company claims viruses aren’t covered in the policy.
The Curry Law Group in Brandon doesn't agree.
“In Florida, unlike a lot of states, if its not specifically excluded in your policy, its included,” said president Clif Curry.
Others say COVID-19 losses don’t count because there’s no physical damage.
“We believe that between the findings that the governor made issuing his stay at home order and the increased findings that the county made in the Hillsborough County order, that there are significant provisions there that substantiate the fact that there is a dangerous condition in every business that’s been affected by the shutdown,” Curry said.
Pierola joins a growing number of small business owners in Hillsborough County who are now also filing claims against insurance companies.
It's a movement that's happening across the nation as well.
“Insurance companies deny, deny, deny. We go in, we win a few cases and then they start doing the right thing and paying,” Curry said.
The five-time James Beard Award semifinalist fears the impact COVID-19 will have on Tampa’s vibrant food scene.
“We have such an extraordinary independent restaurant community that are all chomping at the bit, figuring out how to move forward,” Pierola said. “I imagine we’re going to experience some loss of our local industry. I just hope that we can all somehow summon the powers legislatively, insurance companies, everyone do their part to help us all move forward.”
Curry plans to start filing claims in the next week -- filling Pierola with some relief.
“When you realize its everyone, suddenly you’re hopeful, just hopeful that there’s powers in numbers and that you can address it in a way that’ll be fortifying for all of us.”