Last month we reported on the FCA’s plans for the future progress of its Financial Markets Test Case, a case that is intended to try and help resolve some of the legal uncertainties around business interruption (“BI”) insurance policy coverage and how various BI policies respond to COVID-19 related claims by insureds.

Earlier this week, the FCA provided an update on the progress of the High Court test case which will focus on non-damage extensions to BI policies.

The FCA has now started legal proceedings in the High Court and has published on its website some of the Court documents relating to this. Those include the Claim Form, detailed Particulars of Claim (which explains the relevant BI policy issues and why the FCA considers the insurers should pay claims) and a Witness Statement from Matthew Brevis (Director of General Insurance and Conduct Specialist at the FCA,) that sets out the reasons for, and intentions of, the FCA’s test case.

Also on the FCA’s website are samples of BI policy wordings (which the FCA believes are representative of most BI policy coverage disputes), a set of assumed facts, an issues matrix and the questions for determination by the Court.

Eight insurers have been named as to defendants to the FCA’s claim and they are Arch Insurance, Argenta Syndicate Management, Ecclesiastical Insurance, Hiscox Insurance, MS Amlin, QBE, RSA and Zurich. Their Defences are due to be served on 23 June 2020.

The FCA says that the first Case Management Conference is expected to take place on 16 June 2020 when the Court will be invited to consider the FCA’s application for a speedy hearing, fix a timetable for the case and deal with other procedural matters.

The FCA also expects to publish a list of all relevant insurers and BI policy wordings that may be impacted by the test case in early July 2020.

The FCA still hopes that the case will be heard by the Court in the second half of July 2020.