At this very early stage, it is normal to plead the kitchen sink. I realize that these clickbait articles want you to read the complaint and answer as more than they are, but they will both be amended, in both directions.
I would not expect a lot of movement in policies in the future. If you are big enough, you can buy any coverage you want, if you are willing to pay for it. No one was thinking of this when they negotiated policies, because it is not what they were worried about. And they won't be again because people hate paying premiums they can avoid, and the price of pandemic coverage will go up of course. Ironically, a lot of business interruption insurance lawsuits right now are the inverse of this: the policies exclude shutdowns by governmental authority. If I had to guess, I would say the Shuberts are probably self-insured, with some blanket reinsurance to cover major catastrophes, quite probably not including this.
The day of reckoning is not whether these and other rich landlords get a few bucks; it is how the insurance companies get through this. I am a lot more worried about the small businesses in the theatre district than I am about the big landlords. When we come out of the other end of this, they will still own their real estate. |
