Slovakia

Has the official regulator/authority intervened to help resolve contractual uncertainty around the validity of BI claims?

Insurance companies are supervised by the Slovak National Bank.

The Slovak Insurance Association operates as well in the market as an independent body promoting interests of commercial insurance companies.
There is not yet any official statement on the impact of COVID-19 on liabilities relating to BI insurance arising out of insurance contracts by either of the bodies.

Do insurance policies in your jurisdiction generally restrict BI to losses directly resulting from physical damage?

Typically yes, however, it may depend on the situation.

In general, BI insurance covers financial losses arising out of physical damage, such as fire, floods or theft. Situations when the operation of business is interrupted as a result of government decision (e.g. due to pandemic) are usually not covered by BI insurance since it would not fall within the definition of the insured event in most cases. However, this does not prevent businesses to agree on contractual terms of insurance contracts on an individual basis. Thus, it is theoretically possible to agree on a definition of insured event in a more extensive way (e.g. including pandemic situation), but so far we are not aware of any such general trends being introduced in the market.

To sum up, the current business interruptions based on official government decisions due to Covid-19 situation are not be basically covered by the standard BI insurance terms, if not agreed otherwise between the parties.

Are there any court proceedings currently dealing with the validity of BI claims?

As far as we are aware, there are no such disputes, though please note that there may be ongoing disputes for which a judgment has not yet been given and therefore they are not yet generally available.

Looking ahead, it is likely that some lawsuits concerning BI claims may be expected in the foreseeable future.

Have any judgments been given that deal with BI claims in relation to the current COVID-19 pandemic or other contagious/infectious diseases?

Not yet, as far as publicly available information is concerned.

Name of regulator, websites and articles of interest

Website of the Slovak National Bank (in English):

https://www.nbs.sk/en/home

Website of the Slovak Insurance Association (in English):

https://www.slaspo.sk/en/SLASPO_funkcia

Articles of interest (however, only in Slovak language):

https://www.renomia.sk/co-vas-najviac-zaujima

https://www.opoisteni.sk/zahranicie/abi-ako-funguje-poistenie-pre-pripad-prerusenia-prevadzky/c:19215/

Statements of individual insurance companies on BI insurance within context of the COVID-19 situation:

https://www.generali.sk/2020/04/09/poistovna-generali-radi-koronavirus-a-poistenie-podnikatelov/