When more than 100 Portland chefs, restaurant owners and other food industry figures signed an open letter Sunday asking Gov. Kate Brown to force Oregons restaurants and bars to close, many assumed the action would trigger loss of business insurance. While discussing the closure of his 20 restaurants and bars Sunday, restaurateur Kurt Huffman called it the “magic bullet” that could save the restaurant industry.

But that likely isn’t the case, insurance industry experts say.

“It’s wise for people who’ve been affected by the closure to get in contact with their insurance agent to check their policy, but it’s likely that there’s going to be some exclusionary language in their policies related to viral infections,” said Kenton Brine, president of the insurer-backed NW Insurance Council.

Brine stressed that this was “a longstanding policy provision, not something recently added due to the current COVID-19 outbreak.”

That’s what Gabriel Pascuzzi learned when he called to inquire about his policy last week.

The Stacked Sandwiches owner had already been denied coverage after he closed to address a smoke issue at his new wood-fired chicken restaurant, Mama Bird. When he called his agent, he was told he would probably be denied again.

“I’m sure all these insurance companies have had their lawyers working for months figuring out how to avoid giving people their money,” Pascuzzi said. “I don’t know what the point is of having the insurance if they’re never going to cover anything.”

Still, restaurant owners aren’t abandoning hope that they might see some coverage. Several said they would like to see Oregon leaders follow New Jersey’s lead and file legislation forcing insurers to pay restaurants for closures both mandated and voluntary.

“It’s smart, and it’s the only way to get money to small businesses,” Huffman wrote in a text message Wednesday. “The government is not set up to get money to the little folk. So instead of bailing out small businesses, they could bail out the insurance companies.”

-- Michael Russell

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