The problem of "business interruption" coverage and insurance of business entities caused by the Covid-19 pandemic with reference to German judicial practice

Rad se bavi prikazom “business interruption” pokrića i osiguranja prekida poslovanja te problemima koji su se pojavili u praksi pojavom nove bolest Covid-a 19 uzrokovane virusima SARS-CoV i SARS-CoV-2. Pandemija Covid-a 19 i mjere poduzete za ograničavanje širenja virusa značajno su poremetile gospodarsku aktivnost diljem svijeta, a neizvjesnost u pogledu budućnosti globalnog trgovinskog sustava i međunarodne suradnje je u porastu. Pandemija koronavirusa je obveznim zatvaranjima naloženim od strane javne vlasti prouzročila nagli pad proizvodnje koji je poremetio uslužni sektor. S tim u vezi, povećana je potražnja za uslugama osiguranja od prekida poslovanja zbog izbijanja pandemije, što istovremeno implicira zaračunavanje viših premija od strane osiguravatelja i povećanje isplata šteta po policama potpisanih prije pandemije Covid-a 19, ako se osiguratelji uopće odluče obuhvatiti štetu nastalu od posljedica Covid-a 19 u svoju ponudu osiguranja. Rad započinje s prezentiranjem pojma, funkcije i značaja osiguranja u društvenom kontekstu te prelazi na prikazivanje najvažnijih izvora prava osiguranja – ugovora o osiguranju i uvjeta osiguranja. Osim važnosti izvora prava osiguranja, obraća se pažnja na hijerarhiju izvora te koji će se izvor primjeniti u slučaju sukoba istih. Kratkim pregledom instituta prava osiguranja nastoje se istaknuti bitni elementi prava osiguranja koji će se detaljnije obraditi u nastavku rada s težištem na novonastalu situaciju svjetske zdravstvene pandemije. Sažeto se namjerava predočiti pandemija kao i mjere suzbijanja posljedica pandemije. Minucioznim prikazom problemakoji su nastalipojavom pandemije koronavirusa nastoji se prikazati problematika pokrića osiguranja prilikom prekida poslovanja, kao i predstaviti ponuđena rješenja od strane Europskog nadzornog tijela za osiguranje i strukovno mirovinsko osiguranje. Zaključno, rad će se osvrnuti na dosadašnju njemačku sudsku praksu.This work delves into the review of „business interruption“ coverage and business interruption insurance as well as the problems that have arisen in practice with the appearence of a new disease Covid-19 caused by viruses SARS Cov and SARS Cov 2. The pandemic of Covid-19 and the measures taken to limit the spread of the virus have significantlly disrupted economic activity around the world and the unceartainty regarding the future of the global trade system and international cooperation is growing. The pandemic of coronavirus has caused a sharp decline in production, by mandatory closures ordered by public authority, and therefore has disrupted the service sector. In this regard, the demand for business interruption insurance has increased due to the pandemic outbreak, which at the same time implies charging higher insurance premiums by insurers and increasing claims payments per policy, signed before the Covid-19 pandemic, if insurers choose to cover the damage incurred at all of the consequences of Covid-19 in its insurance offer. The work begins with the presentation of the concept, functions and importance of insurance in the social context and moves on to presenting the most important sources of insurance rights - insurance contracts and insurance conditions. In addition to the importance of the source of law of insurance, attention is paid to the hierarchy of sources and which one will be used in the event of a conflict of the sources. A brief overview of the institute of insurance law seeks to highlight the essential elements of law insurance, which will be discussed in more detail in the continuation of the work with the emphasis on the new situation of the world health pandemic. It is intended to summarily present the pandemic as well as the measures taken to minimize the consequences of the pandemic. Through a meticulous account of the problems caused by the pandemic of coronavirus, the work seeks to present the issue of insurance coverage in the event of business interruption, as well as the solutions offered by the European Insurance Supervisory Authority and occupational pension insurance (hereinafter: EIOPA). Finally, the paper will look at previous German case law