Latest news with #businessinterruption
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Business owners challenge insurance firm in Covid losses dispute
"It's just sad and disheartening, to know that we've just been ignored, having paid our insurance."Beauty therapist Sukhjeet Bahra, 56, from Oadby, Leicestershire, is one of 69 business owners suing an insurance company for breach of contract. Mrs Bahra, who runs Sajja Beauty Ltd, is part of a group action against insurer Beazley Syndicates after it refused to pay business losses related to the lockdown.A spokesperson for Beazley said: "We do not comment on ongoing litigation." Policyholders had their claims declined on the grounds that their business interruption policies were not designed to cover a national lockdown."I remember contacting them [the insurer] during the lockdown period and asking about the pay outs," said Ms Bahra."I just remember being told that because it wasn't a local pandemic it didn't apply to us." Following the lockdown, which forced businesses to close their doors, many firms looked to insurers to cover some of their losses under so-called business interruption Ms Bahra was declined any help from her insurer she took out a loan which she is still paying back, just to cover her bills."It's affected us not being able to pay the full amount into our mortgage, so it affected everyday life. "We should be at the end of our mortgage, we're still a long way behind so it's just made us feel like we are constantly chasing our tail."As a result, she also had to give up the salon which she opened in 2015 and go back to running her business from her home. "I found it really hard, I felt like I was failing, going backwards, to come back home," said. "It gave me a lot of anxiety and it took me three to four months to make the decision." Solicitor Chris Guy, a director at RLK Solicitors, who is representing all of the business owners in the group action said: "They had insurance in place at the time that would cover for those losses and their insurance companies are still saying no."Mr Guy has accused the insurer of deliberately stalling to reach the six-year mark which is how long a breach of contract claim lasts."This has been their tactic from day one, it's either, let the company go bust, so the claim dies when the company dies, or alternatively they drag it out as long as they can, so the claim becomes time barred, or the business just gives up.""It is horrendous, I've had clients that have taken their own lives, I've had clients that have built a business up over decades and have had to fold it. "There have been family-run businesses for centuries that have been lost as a result of this." Lauren Halley, 42, owner of the Beauty Room in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire is also part of the group action. "When the business was closed we contacted our insurance to make a claim on the business interruption clause and it was denied by the insurance," she said."We did take it further but they said it wasn't applicable and we couldn't get a pay out."It was part of the policy. We've been open nearly 20 years and we've paid our insurance for 20 years and when we needed to make a claim we should have been entitled to that money."Like Ms Bahra, she also took out a bounce back loan which she is still paying back."I think, if we got the money that we are entitled to it would help a lot of businesses pay off loans, that they've still got outstanding," she said.
CBC
17-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
When the smoke clears: Northern Sask. wildfires leave many businesses in limbo
Wildfires have burned through much of northern Saskatchewan, forcing thousands from their homes and leaving many business owners who rely on local tourism in limbo. While some have been left with nothing, even those whose businesses survived are left with uncertainty about what's next. "We were in our first week of summer operations for this season when the evacuation order came," said Cindy Ouellet, who owns the T&D Amisk camp — about 30 kilometres from Denare Beach — alongside her husband Nick. She said they had to evacuate guests out of the camp on May 28, then go through and cancel bookings up to July 5 "week-by-week." Ouellet said the aftermath of the wildfires has been "devastating" for her business. "Our season runs from the last week of May to typically the 1st of October," she said. "We do some small business operations in the winter, but that's very minimal compared to the summer months. And the month of June is our main bread and butter." 'We don't know at this point how long we will continue cancellations and when we will actually be ready to welcome our guests,' said Cindy Ouellet, the owner of T&D Amisk camp. (Submitted by Cindy Ouellet) Ouellet said she is fortunate her business is covered by a business interruption insurance policy. She had to use it once before during the pandemic, when her business was shut down for a year and a half. Not everyone has that option. Ouellet said she made a private Facebook group to help those who have suffered losses — many of them friends and "fellow business owners." She said the group is a place solely for those who need to rebuild. It will provide "all the resources possible," including RTM providers, builders, contractors and insurance information. "Seeing friends absolutely desperate and lost, suffering this devastation and then on top of it having to make really big decisions fairly quickly," Ouellet said. "Nobody should have to do that without some sort of help." Ouellet and her husband have also housed residents as they begin to return to the area and crews coming in to help rebuild. Earlier this month, owners of The Ridge on Amisk Resort announced it as a total loss after the Wolf fire engulfed the northern village of Denare Beach. "Our life savings, dreams, our blood, sweat and tears along with our hearts and souls, in one afternoon it was all taken away," the post said. Neil MacAuley, the owner and operator of La Ronge Fishing Adventures, is grappling with what work could look like once the smoke settles. He runs a third-generation charter operation that provides full and half-day guided fishing, and all the gear required. MacAuley said that as the wildfire season has gotten worse over the last couple of years, people in the community have become "a little uneasy." "You have your clients and your guests out there, and they're watching giant plumes of smoke billowing up, you know, 10 to 15 miles away," he said. "You're trying to reassure them that you know, we're going to be OK, it's safe." Neil said many of his friends lost their cabin to the Pisew fire in La Ronge. (Submitted by Neil MacAuley) MacAuley said he hopes it will be a good season for his business, but it heavily relies on the campgrounds in the area, many which have burned down. "We've already had about seven or eight cancellations already. So we're going to try and fill those up, but it's going to be tough for us." He said many of those calling to cancel have been people who have lost property in the fire. MacAuley is not the only business owner experiencing a slew of cancellations. Glen Thompson, one of the owners of Osprey Wings, an air charter company in northern Saskatchewan, said between 80 and 100 flights have been cancelled so far. "That's probably in the neighborhood of a couple hundred-thousand worth of lost revenue," he said, adding that many businesses are "suffering." Glen Thompson, one of the owners of Osprey wings, said they are waiting for the air space to open up in certain places across the province to service more people. (Submitted by Glen Thompson) Osprey Wings provides flights for tourism, mining, the public service sector and fire suppression. Thompson said it's run by 25 people across 994 planes, and services hundreds of businesses across areas north, east and west of La Ronge and Mississippi. Over the last few months, the company has been helping fire chiefs and firefighters travel around to outfitters camps and sites that needed pumps set up, Thompson said. As the fire situation improves, he said the next priority is to get back to business and help the community as much as possible. "Hopefully we can get things some semblance of normalcy back into our northern community," Thompson said. "If you've ever been to northern Saskatchewan, it's just probably one of the neatest experiences you'll ever have in your lifetime." Up-to-date info on active fires, smoke and related topics is available at these sources:
