Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog

The North Carolina business court recently handed a win to policyholders in a COVID-19 business interruption lawsuit arising from the pandemic-related closure of Tanger outlet centers across the country. Tanger Props. Ltd. P’ship v. ACE Am. Ins. Co., 2025 NCBC 66 (Oct. 27, 2025). Tanger’s insurers moved to dismiss the lawsuit on the basis that the insurance policies are governed by Georgia law, not North Carolina law, where the Supreme Court has held that all-risk policies must cover loss resulting from COVID-19 interruptions. Unpersuaded by the insurers, the court denied the motion finding that Tanger established a sufficiently close connection to North Carolina law.

Recent business disruptions have highlighted  the vulnerabilities retailers face when unexpected events force closures.  Whether it’s a utility outage disrupting operations or a fire at a supplier’s facility or neighboring property cutting into sales, insurance may help cover business interruption losses.

The insurance claims process can be daunting even under the most ordinary circumstances; a catastrophic series of fires like Southern California is enduring has created extraordinary circumstances.

To help make the insurance part of the recovery process easier and answer some common policyholder questions, we’ve prepared the following guide for navigating the first steps after a wildfire:

On December 13, 2024, the North Carolina Supreme Court refused to follow the herd of poorly and in many cases, erroneously-reasoned decisions and applied settled rules of insurance policy interpretation to find Cincinnati Insurance Company owes coverage to a group of restaurants suffering business interruption losses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.  While the North Carolina Court’s decision in North State Deli, LLC v. The Cincinnati Insurance Co., may come too late for many, the decision nevertheless offers reassurance that some courts remain willing to stand firm on fundamental guiding principles.