Christian Durocher, boss of restaurant Chez Aldo, Petit Nice beach, at Pyla-sur-Mer (Gironde), had taken out an extension of guarantee with its insurer Axa for losses following an administrative closure due in particular to a ” contagious illness “ or a “Epidemic”.
While it was due to reopen in early April, when the tourist season began, it remained closed, as everywhere in the country because of the confinement.
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He then asked € 30,000 in compensation from his insurer to cover 2 months of dead losses. Cold shower because Axa refuses by opposing it to an exclusion clause in the contract : “I received a cynical letter from Axa which said that we were not covered, it is total contempt”, he denounced.
In its letter, the insurance giant stresses that “Operating losses are excluded from the guarantee when at least one other establishment on the date of closure […] is about, […] an administrative closure for an identical cause “, and this, in the same department. The restaurateur accuses his insurer of playing on words.
Decision on June 23
For Me François Drageon, his lawyer, who summoned Axa for interim measures (emergency procedure), this “Clause has the effect of voiding the guarantee of its substance”.
“If the epidemic was to happen only in my house, then it had to be written! But an epidemic is general! “, he argued before the consular judges. Pending a hearing on the merits, he claims a provision covering the loss of the restaurateur’s net margin.
On the contrary, the clause is ” very clear “, swept Axa’s lawyer Pascal Ormen. “What we cover is the closure of the establishment, but not when all the establishments are closed at the same time, otherwise it would cover the systemic risk”, he argued at the hearing. And yes, “An epidemic can be measured at the level of an establishment”, he said, citing the case of legionellosis in a Clud Med.
The decision will be made on June 23, after another expected in Lyon on Wednesday in a similar case.
Axa pursued by a dozen professionals
At the end of May, the Paris commercial court ruled in favor of a Parisian restaurateur, Stéphane Manigold, for a refusal of compensation by Axa which appealed.
In mid-April, the French insurance federation said it was unable to reimburse the operating losses of companies linked to the coronavirus epidemic, then estimated at 60 billion euros.
Axa said on Tuesday that he had received “Less than a dozen assignments by professionals who disagree with non-compensation decisions”.
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