About 370,000 businesses will learn if they will receive payouts for damage to their business from coronavirus as a result of a court case starting today.
The City regulator will test the wordings of policies from eight insurers in front of the High Court to try to establish whether they cover the virus.
Insurers have faced criticism for their initial response that most business interruption insurance policies did not cover pandemics.
The stance sparked an outcry among businesses whose revenues have collapsed because of the virus, and triggered scrutiny from MPs and the Financial Conduct Authority.
Businesses have formed action groups to pursue a range of insurers including Hiscox, Axa, RSA and Zurich and some, such as the Hiscox group, have launched legal claims.
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