Commodore, Inc. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's London

Commodore, Inc. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's London

Opinion

LOBREE, J.

Commodore, Inc. d/b/a GreenStreet Café, Inc. ("GreenStreet"), a restaurant and bar located in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, filed a claim with its commercial property insurer, Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's, London ("Lloyd's"), for business income losses it suffered when it suspended its operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. While Lloyd's was investigating the claim, GreenStreet sought a declaratory judgment that the losses were covered under its insurance policy with Lloyd's. The trial [*2]  court dismissed GreenStreet's petition for declaratory relief with prejudice, concluding that the policy at issue, which provided coverage for loss of business income due to the suspension of operations "caused by direct physical loss of or damage to property," did not provide coverage for GreenStreet's losses because "'direct physical loss . . .' requires some tangible alteration to insured property." GreenStreet appeals from the final judgment of dismissal of its petition for declaratory relief. Because the trial court correctly determined that the economic losses allegedly suffered by GreenStreet are not covered under the policy, we affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

Lloyd's issued an all-risk commercial property policy (the "Policy") to GreenStreet, effective from February 15, 2020, to February 15, 2021. The Policy provides commercial property insurance "for direct physical loss of or damage to Covered Property at the premises described in the Declarations caused by or resulting from any Covered Cause of Loss." Relevant here, the Policy includes a Business Income (and Extra Expense) Coverage Form, which reads, in part, as follows:

A. Coverage

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