Caesars Entertainment said Monday it has filed a lawsuit last week against its insurance carriers regarding more than $2 billion in reported COVID-19 losses.
In a Monday filing with federal regulators, Caesars said that it has broad property insurance to protest against "all risk of physical loss or damage" and any business interruption that would ensue, KSNV reports.
"However, even though the vast majority of the company’s insurance policies do not exclude loss or damage caused by a virus or pandemic, the company's insurance carriers have refused to pay the company’s losses, which are estimated to exceed $2 billion," Caesars said in its filing.
The lawsuit was filed on March 19 in Clark County District Court and names multiple insurance companies as defendants. Caesars says in its suit that it pays more than $25 million in premiums for an "all-risk policy portfolio providing more than $3.4 billion in coverage limits but has not received any kind of payment in response to the "business interruption" caused by the presence of the virus.
All gaming properties in Nevada were ordered to shut down last March and required to remain closed until June 4 to limit the spread of COVID-19. Other states instituted similar shutdowns around the U.S.
Caesars' lawyers cite the company's early COVID-19 response, including furloughs, food donations and financial relief, as well as COVID-19 statistics and unemployment numbers. "Caesars is continuing to experience physical loss and/or damage to property and interruption of its business as the pandemic continues, despite taking measures to mitigate the risk associated with SARS-CoV-2 and/or COVID-19," the lawsuit states.
The gaming company is alleging breach of contract and violations of the Nevada Unfair Claims Practices Act. It's calling for an order that declares its losses are covered by its insurance policies. Similar to a lawsuit filed in 2020 by Circus Circus, Caesars focuses the majority of its argument on COVID-19 losses under coverage of their insurance policies.