- Since the start of confinement, many professionals have been trying to get compensation from their insurance companies for their operating losses.
- The MysmartCab collective action platform created in Toulouse is launching an action to force insurers to grant requests from professionals.
David Gerson runs two restaurants in the Blagnac airport area and, like everyone else, he had to stay closed for two months due to coronavirus. So Wednesday, when his insurer called him to tell him that he was going to make a gesture of solidarity, he could have jumped for joy. But the amount left him speechless.
“I have one of my establishments which generate 600,000 euros in turnover. The insurance company explained to me that the gesture of solidarity for this restaurant would be 500 euros and 280 euros for the other. This is the reality, it is appalling, ”explains the depressed entrepreneur.
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To force his insurer to cover his “operating losses” as part of his contract, he decided to participate in the collective action launched by a group of lawyers, including the Toulousain Christophe Lèguevaques.
“Today we find that ill-treatment is reserved by a number of insurance companies for their policyholders. Through the collective action that we are launching, we want to show that unity is strength, that insurance companies have every interest in negotiating with professionals to compensate their losses linked to the Covid-19 health crisis if they do not want to not be attacked in court, ”says the lawyer, who has already embarked on this kind of procedure for Linky meters, Chlordecone or even Levothyrox via the Mysmartcab platform.
Before starting any procedure, this time he prefers to install a balance of power to push the companies to negotiate. Because according to him, there are thousands in this situation, in Occitania and elsewhere. Each professional who decides to commit, whether he is a restaurateur, osteopath, manager of sports halls or even in events, will see his insurance contracts decrypted and the amount of his potential compensation calculated in exchange for fees ranging from 90 to 400 euros.
Little ones facing the giants
"We will then make a transactional proposal to the companies in September, if they refuse we will launch a collective procedure. Because if starred chefs with a name can attack insurance and pay attorney fees, it is often harder for small restaurants who find themselves alone in front of a giant, "argues Christophe Lèguevaques.
This fight against insurance is not the only one to have started. A Parisian restaurateur thus won a first victory against Axa, which refused to compensate its losses linked to the health crisis. A summary judgment which will have to be confirmed on the merits.
The Toulouse lawyer has another side up his sleeve. If this does not work on the insurers' side, it will turn to the state to push it to declare a state of natural disaster, against which companies would find it difficult to go. “This decree is based on a natural phenomenon, the virus is one, an abnormal intensity and consequences that are not necessarily insurable. In light of the case law, the government cannot kick the ball, ”says Christophe Lèguevaques.
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Deconfinement: Between restaurateurs and insurers, the showdown around compensation is launched
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- Toulouse
- Coronavirus
- Covid 19
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- Restoration
- Insurance
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