ABW Dev., LLC v. Cont'l Cas. Co.

ABW Dev., LLC v. Cont'l Cas. Co.

Opinion

JUSTICE McBRIDE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

Presiding Justice Gordon and Justice Burke concurred in the judgment and opinion.

OPINION

 [*P1]  Plaintiff, ABW Development, LLC, d/b/a PAW Management, is the owner and operator of medical imaging clinics in Illinois and Indiana. Plaintiff sought to recover from its insurer, defendant, Continental Casualty Company, losses that plaintiff allegedly suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic and due to governmental orders issued in response. After defendant denied plaintiff's claim, plaintiff sought a declaratory judgment that the losses were covered by its policy and that it was entitled to recover them. On motion of defendant, the circuit [**2]  court dismissed plaintiff's complaint, concluding that the unambiguous terms of the policy did not cover plaintiff's alleged losses. Plaintiff appeals that dismissal.

 [*P2]  The record shows that plaintiff purchased an insurance policy from defendant. The policy was effective for the period from January 3, 2020, to January 3, 2021, and provided coverage for plaintiff's business personal property located at three clinic locations in Illinois and one clinic location in Indiana.

 [*P3]  The policy contained a "Businessowners Special Property Coverage Form," pursuant to which defendant agreed to "pay for direct physical loss of or damage to Covered Property at the premises described in the Declarations caused by or resulting from a Covered Cause Of Loss." A "Covered Cause of Loss" was defined as "Risks of Direct Physical Loss," unless an exclusion or limitation applied.

 [*P4]  The policy also contained a "Business Income and Extra Expense" endorsement, providing coverage for "Business Income" and "Extra Expense." Regarding "Business Income," defendant agreed to "pay for the actual loss of Business Income [plaintiff] sustain[ed] due to the necessary 'suspension' of [its] 'operations' during the 'period of restoration.'" [**3]  "Suspension" was defined as the "partial or complete cessation of [plaintiff's] business activities" and "operations" was defined as "the type of [plaintiff's] business activities occurring at the described premises and tenantability of the described premises." The "period of restoration" was defined as the period that:

"Begins with the date of direct physical loss or damage caused by or resulting from any Covered Cause of Loss at the described premises; and [e]nds on the earlier of: (1) The date when the property at the described premises should be repaired, rebuilt or replaced with reasonable speed and similar quality; or (2) The date when business is resumed at a new permanent location."

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