Insurance & Reinsurance analysis: The High Court’s decision in the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) coronavirus (COVID-19) business interruption (BI) test case will be published on 15 September 2020. The decision is widely expected to be appealed, whatever the High Court decides. Accordingly, the wait for the legal certainty needed to adjust and settle valid coronavirus BI claims is set to continue for several months yet. Pamela Freeland of Weightmans and the Lexis®PSL Insurance & Reinsurance team consider the implications of this impasse for coronavirus BI claims advanced in other forums, such as the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), arbitration or separate actions in the County Court and the High Court—all the time while the coronavirus saga continues to unfold and produce new conundrums, such as the gradual withdrawal of government support through the coronavirus job retention scheme. We also take a step back and consider the essence of the parties’ respective positions on the critical issue of causation, and the implications that the courts’ final reckoning on the issue might have for insurance law.

There is, on the face of it, nothing to prevent an employer giving notice of termination, in accordance with statute and the contract of employment, to an employee who is on furlough under the coronavirus (COVID-19) job retention scheme (CJRS). See Practice Notes: • Statutory minimum notice • Contractual notice The CJRS is designed to support employers whose operations have been severely affected by coronavirus. To date, information on the CJRS has been provided in the form of: • guidance for employers • guidance for employees  For information on which employees are covered by the scheme, see Practice Note: Coronavirus Job

A number of competition authorities around the world are amending their operations due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The table below summarises the situation in relation to merger control procedures in highlighted jurisdictions. Note–only jurisdictions that are known to have amended their procedures due to the coronavirus outbreak are included; unless stated below, there are no known changes to procedure. For coronavirus (COVID-19) related developments in relation to antitrust investigations, exceptions/exemptions and State aid investigations, see Coronavirus (COVID-19)—global behavioural, exemptions and State aid case tracker. Jurisdiction Merger control regime status update Albania The Competition Authority had postponed all meetings and hearings scheduled until 31/03/2020 to April 2020. All investigations were suspended until 31/03/2020. As of mid-April, the Competition Authority begun issuing merger clearance decisions.Merger notifications can be submitted via email. Angola All documents should be sent to the ARC by email; no face-to-face contact is possible. Argentina The CNDC had suspended all investigation deadlines; the suspension ended and deadlines resumed on 26/10/2020 Notifications to be submitted by email or

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note tracks the developments and updates on coronavirus (COVID-19) that relate to the life sciences sector in the UK. For coronavirus developments of interest to the life sciences sector in the EU, including those which may have applied to the UK until the end of the Brexit transition period, and internationally, see Practice Note: Coronavirus (COVID-19)—EU life sciences tracker [Archived]. Jump to • Research and development of medicines and vaccines • IP waiver • Clinical trials • Regulation of medical devices • Regulation of vaccines, medicinal products and blood • Post-authorisation vigilance of medicines and vaccines • Supply of vaccines, medicines and medical products • Actions on falsified and unlicensed medicines, off-label use of medical devices • mHealth and data protection For a discussion on: • the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the UK and EU regulatory frameworks, see Practice Note: Coronavirus (COVID-19)—regulatory implications for the UK and European life sciences industry [Archived] • what life sciences companies

Law360, London: Insurers are wrong to have deducted an estimated £1bn of taxpayer-funded furlough grants issued during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, representatives for policyholders argued before the UK Supreme Court on 11 February 2026 in a landmark case for business interruption claims.

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the UK government implemented a series of measures to support individuals and businesses adversely affected by the pandemic. Several of these measures involved the receipt of funds directly from government or local government that were not expected to be paid back, ie grants rather than loans. For more detail on these schemes, see Practice Note: Coronavirus (COVID-19)—tax implications [Archived]. Guidance relating to these schemes indicated that the recipients should treat these grants as taxable income because the grant was, in effect, replacing business income that would otherwise have arisen. On 29 May 2020, the government published draft legislation, tax information and impact note and explanatory notes for consultation. The legislation was ultimately enacted as section 106 of and Schedule 16 to Finance Act 2020 (FA 2020). The purposes of the legislation were: • to treat COVID-19 support payments as income where the business was within the scope of income tax or corporation tax • to enable

Law360, London: An insurance company has rejected claims from the Hollywood Bowl chain seeking at least £32.5m for interruption caused by coronavirus (COVID-19), arguing the restrictions that lockdowns entailed were not covered by the policy's wording.

This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note sets out key news and guidance in relation to coronavirus (COVID-19) that is relevant to family proceedings, including guidance issued by the President of the Family Division and other members of the judiciary. It also considers case law and consultations in relation to remote hearings. The World Health Organization declared an end to the coronavirus emergency on 5 May 2023 and there are currently no coronavirus related restrictions in force in the UK. However, during the coronavirus emergency, hearings were permitted to take place remotely where deemed appropriate by the judge allocated to the case and guidance was issued for the Family Court in this regard, see: President of the Family Division’s guidance and The Remote Access Family Court guidance. Mediation Information and assessment meetings could also be dealt with remotely. Online mediation remains available, subject to the practice of particular provider involved. For guidance on remote and/or hybrid hearings generally, see Practice Note: Remote and hybrid hearings in the Family Court. President

UPDATE: Since this Q&A was first published on 3 April 2020, the HMRC guidance for employers: Claim for your employees’ wages through the coronavirus job retention scheme and guidance for employees: Check if your employer can use the coronavirus job retention scheme (first published on 26 March) has been updated on 4 April, 9 April and 15 April 2020. For information on the position as at 15 April 2020, see: Update (15 April 2020) below. For further information on these updates, see: • HMRC publishes updated employer and employee guidance on Coronavirus (COVID-19) job retention scheme • HMRC publishes second update to employer and employee guidance on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Job Retention Scheme, and • Treasury gives legal effect to Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and updates guidance

Details of the coronavirus (COVID-19) job retention scheme (CJRS) are set out: • in the HMRC’s: ◦ guidance for employers: Check if you can claim for your employees' wages through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and ◦ guidance for employees: Check if your employer can use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and • in The Coronavirus Act 2020 Functions of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme) Direction (Treasury Direction) issued by the Treasury on 15 April 2020 The HMRC employer guidance was first published on 26 March 2020. Since then it has been updated on 4 April, 9 April, 15 April, 17 April and 20 April. For information on the CJRS generally, see Practice Note: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (original version to 30 June 2020) [Archived]. See also News Analyses: • Treasury gives legal effect to Coronavirus

ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note is not maintained and is for background information only. This Practice Note considers the original Coronavirus (COVID-19) Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), first announced by the government on 20 March 2020 that applied between 1 March and 30 June 2020. For information on: • the extended CJRS that applies between 1 May and 30 September 2021, see Practice Note: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (extended version 1 May to 30 September 2021) [Archived] • the extended CJRS that applied between 1 November 2020 and 30 April 2021, see Practice Note: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (extended version 1 November 2020 to 30 April 2021) [Archived] • the revised CJRS that applied between 1 July and 31 October 2020, see Practice Note: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (extended version 1 July to 31 October 2020) [Archived] The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is a temporary scheme, initially announced to be in place for three months starting from 1 March 2020, but HM Treasury announced, on 17 April 2020, that

This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note focuses on the implications for restructuring and insolvency court work in the light of temporary rules introduced in the context of coronavirus (COVID-19). For the implications for litigation generally, see Practice Note: Coronavirus (COVID-19) implications for dispute resolution [Archived]. Are the courts operating normally? The Supreme Court continues to hear cases with hearings and judgments being conducted in person or virtually. The Court of Appeal building is open during the hours of 10 am to 4.30 pm (Monday to Friday). E-filing is mandatory for legally represented persons in the Court of Appeal from 14 February 2022—see LNB News 14/02/2022 58. The RCJ remain open, including the fees office. Fees can also be paid by telephone between the hours of 10 am and 4 pm or by email (RCJfeespayments@justice.gov.uk)—see LNB News 01/03/2021 17. The appointment based system is available to book by calling 0203 936 8957. The fees office has relocated to the West Green Building. Judicial