A New Hampshire hotel owner is suing his insurance company over the loss of business it suffered during the pandemic. The lawsuit alleges that the rewards policy they paid for failed to deliver on their promise. New Hampshire businessman Mark Stebbins of Schleicher and Stebbins Hotels, LLC said the pandemic had lost up to tens of millions of dollars in revenue for his New Jersey hotels. According to Stebbins, when he filed a claim, he was confident that his business interruption insurance would fill the void. However, after Stebbins paid more than $ 1.5 million a year for his policy, his claim was denied: “You say it didn’t damage your property. We say yes, it damaged our property, ”said Stebbins. According to the lawsuit, the insurance company argues that there must be “loss or damage” of property preventing customers from receiving the hotels’ goods or services. Hotel owners said during the pandemic they had taken in infected guests and employees, which put business off. In addition, Stebbins’ attorneys have relied heavily on a New Hampshire Supreme Court ruling that “smells from cat urine can cause the necessary” physical loss “trigger property insurance coverage. “The Stebbins team argues that the impact of COVID-19 is far greater. “Jurors won’t have a hard time concluding that there was a virus in hotels, airports, and rest stops and that all of those properties were affected by this terrible disaster,” said Marshall Gilinksy of law firm Anderson Kill. Frustrated, he said his key rate had risen 15%. “How can you not pay someone and still raise your prices? To say, “Well, because of this COVID disaster, we’re going to increase your rates.” Well, that makes sense if you’re cashing out but not cashing out, “Stebbins said. News 9 reached out to the legal representatives of the insurance company concerned but didn’t hear about it.
MANCHESTER, NH –
A New Hampshire hotel owner is suing his insurance company over the loss of business it suffered during the pandemic. The lawsuit alleges that the premium policy they paid failed to deliver on their promise.
New Hampshire businessman Mark Stebbins of Schleicher and Stebbins Hotels, LLC said the pandemic had lost tens of millions in revenue for his hotels from New Hampshire to New Jersey.
According to Stebbins, when he filed a lawsuit, he was confident that his business interruption insurance would fill the void. However, after Stebbins paid more than $ 1.5 million annually for his policy, his claim was denied.
“You say it didn’t damage your property. We say yes, it damaged our property, ”said Stebbins.
According to the lawsuit, the insurance company argues that there must be “loss or damage” of property preventing customers from receiving the hotels’ goods or services. Hotel owners said during the pandemic they had taken in infected guests and employees, which put business off.
In addition, Stebbins attorneys have relied heavily on a New Hampshire Supreme Court ruling “that smells from cat urine can cause the” physical loss “necessary to trigger property insurance.” The Stebbins team argued that the impact of COVID-19 is far greater.
“Jurors won’t have a hard time concluding that there was a virus in hotels, airports, and rest stops and that all of those properties were affected by this terrible disaster,” said Marshall Gilinksy of law firm Anderson Kill.
In addition to Stebbins’ frustration, he said his policy rate was up 15%.
“How can you not pay someone and still raise your prices? To say, “Well, because of this COVID disaster, we’re going to increase your rates.” Well, that makes sense when you’re cashing out but not cashing out, “Stebbins said.
News 9 has contacted the legal representative of the insurance company concerned, but has not received a response.
