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Coronavirus restaurateur wins first victory over insurer Axa


Stéphane Manigold, at a press conference given in front of one of his restaurants, Le Bistrot d´à côté Flaubert, in Paris, on May 22. THOMAS COEX / AFP

This is a first victory for hotel and restaurant owners, in the showdown that has pitted them since the start of confinement to insurance companies over coverage for operating losses. The Paris Commercial Court ruled, on Friday, May 22, in summary proceedings, to a Parisian restaurateur who had summoned his insurer, Axa France, after his refusal to compensate the operating losses of one of its establishments, closed in as part of the health crisis.

Stéphane Manigold, president of the Eclore group, bringing together four gastronomic establishments, had to hurriedly lower the curtain from March 14 at midnight, by decision of the Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe. He then turned to his insurer, Axa, for the company to compensate him, arguing that his contract provided “An extension for operating losses in the event of an administrative closure imposed by the police, health or safety services”.

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When the insurer refused, the case was brought to court for one of its four Parisian restaurants, Le Bistrot d´à côté Flaubert. The restaurateur denouncing “Axa France’s allegation that supports” that the government decree of March 14 “Does not constitute a decision of“ administrative closure ””.

Differences in interpretation

On Friday, in a summary judgment, the court ruled in favor of Stéphane Manigold. He ordered Axa France to pay his company a provision of 45,000 euros and appointed a legal expert to assess the amount of damage caused by the loss of gross margin during the compensation period. Very moved, Mr. Manigold expressed himself during a press conference organized at the Bistrot next to Flaubert:

“Today is a great time for all of the suffering big and small bosses who gave me the energy to fight. Axa has put in disproportionate means to annihilate us. We faced a multinational, and we won. The court gave us two and a half months on our gross margin. When the judgment is final, I will reimburse the state. “

In the process, Axa France announced that it would appeal this decision. In a press release, the insurance company considers that the decision of the commercial court does not settle the question of the differences on the interpretation of the clause of loss of exploitation of the contract of the insured. “Taken urgently in view of Mr. Manigold’s specific situation, this decision remains provisional”, she says. This disagreement “Will be the subject of a debate on the merits which could not take place before the judge in summary proceedings”, continues the insurer.

Grandstand: Coronavirus: “Insurers cannot be the only debtors”

At the start of the health crisis, insurers claimed that the pandemic was not covered by business interruption contracts because this risk is not insurable, as it affects all policyholders at the same time. Will this court decision push companies to compensate their customers, in particular those whose contracts offer cover in the event of administrative closure? “It will be case by case, estimates an insurer. The companies most exposed to this risk may want to go to the end of the litigation, because there is uncertainty as long as the court decision is not final. But also, for some, because in the meantime, restaurants will go bankrupt and they will not have to pay. “

Ensuring the pandemic, our contributions

Insurance companies have been singled out for their reluctance to cover damage caused by the virus. But how do you anticipate a world of megarisques?

  • “Capitalism is convinced that it can reduce the radical uncertainty of the world”, by Gilles Laferté, director of research at the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (Inrae)
  • “Insurers must prepare for our future”, by Jérôme Bergé, risk and insurance manager in an international transport group
  • “Insurers cannot be the only debtors”, by Cécile Létang, lawyer at Cornet Vincent Ségurel
  • “Epidemic risk is impossible to insure”, by Olivier Moustacakis, co-founder of the insurance comparator Assurland.com
  • “We are in the presence of an insurance risk with a systemic dimension”, by Pierre Picard, professor of economics at the Ecole Polytechnique (Center for Research in Economics and Statistics-Crest)
  • “The question of the cost of the pandemic and compensation for victims will quickly become crucial”, interview with Erwann Michel-Kerjan, associate director at the strategy consulting firm McKinsey & Company
  • “The problem of insurance against loss of income is pushed up one level”, chronicle from Patrick Artus, chief economist of Natixis bank

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