Rams Head at centre of £600,000 claim after Covid-19 lockdown

Neil Diamond Ltd is suing New India Assurance Co after paying a premium of £1,764 for insurance which it alleged should have covered the claim after the enforced closure of The Rams Head on Rawlinson Street.

The premises had to be closed from March 22 2020 during the first lockdown and remained shut as a result of government restrictions until May 17 2021, according to the claim which has just been made publicly available at the court in London.

However, the papers say that when the hotel claimed on its insurance, the claim was rejected.     

The owners of the premises said the pub was usually open for 12 hours a day, from lunchtime until midnight and later on Saturdays, and that there would generally have been 40 and 54 people at the hotel including four members of staff.

However, the business had to be closed as a result of the pandemic and government restrictions, and this triggered the disease clause in the insurance policy, the hotel says.

Now the owners of the Rams Head are challenging the rejection of their claim by the insurers, and are seeking an indemnity of up to £600,000 for losses in the 24 months after the hotel had to be closed.

They seek a legal declaration that the hotel should have been covered by its insurers for up to £600,000 for 24 months after the business was closed as a result of government restrictions, and they seek payment of their losses.

The hotel is also demanding damages for breach of the Insurance Act 2015.

Last month a decision was made on an application to turn the former hotel and pub into a house of multiple occupation.

Renovation work had already seen The Rams Head turned into a 17-bedroom property. The hotel and pub had 15 bedrooms. 

Permission for the retrospective application, submitted by Samit Gupta, of ADSG Property Developments Ltd, was granted by Barrow Borough Council.