A California judge has ruled that Lloyd’s Of London insurance company is not responsible for reimbursing METALLICA for the revenue they lost when they had to postponed six of their gigs in 2020 due to the pandemic, as reported by Billboard.
The lawsuit was a result of the cancelation of METALLICA’s six-date tour of South America in April 2020. COVID-19 related travel restrictions were enacted just weeks before the scheduled launch, leaving METALLICA no choice but to postpone the dates.
METALLICA filed a complaint in June 2020 in Los Angeles Superior Court against their cancellations, abandonments, and non-appearances insurance policy with Lloyd’s Of London. The band denied the insurer citing the communicable disease exclusion on the policy.
The lawsuit claimed that the cancellation was “unreasonably restrictive” and went against the contract. METALLICA argued that Lloyd’s insurance company could not say for certain that the pandemic was the reason for cancellations because there were other potential causes covered under their policy.
The complaint alleged “that travel restrictions, the duty to mitigate damages, the need to ‘flatten the curve’ and stay-at-home orders all caused the Shows’ cancellations.”
In a November 30 decision obtained by Billboard, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Holly J. Fujie disagreed with METALLICA‘s arguments, writing: “The travel restrictions which caused the concert cancellations were a direct response to the burgeoning COVID-19 pandemic. The evidence … demonstrates that the COVID-19 pandemic spurred the travel restrictions to South America and restrictions on public gatherings. The COVID-19 pandemic was therefore the efficient proximate cause of the concerts’ cancellations.”
METALLICA‘s lawsuit stated that Lloyd’s is an insurance company where underwriters work together in syndicates, and they mainly sell their policies through brokers.
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