The Court of Appeal in Ghent has ruled that Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe will have to refund €3.5 million worth of cancelled tickets and lost profit after the Van Eyck exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent was cut short by Covid-19, De Standaard reports.
The exhibition was insured at a value of €9.2 million. It had only received 129,000 visitors during its first six weeks, by which time the first Covid-19 lockdown started in Belgium. Three months later, the City of Ghent refunded the 144,000 unused tickets. A legal row lasting three-and-a-half years then ensued, over who was responsible for the payment and what exactly is covered by insurance.
Standard exhibition insurance usually covers physical damage incurred any time between the removal of the artwork from its permanent residence to its hanging in the host museum. The City of Ghent, however, had also added additional risks to the contract, including terrorism, riots, natural disasters and epidemics.
In December 2021, the magistrates' court in Ghent ruled that the City was entitled to €460,000. Unsatisfied, the City appealed the ruling six months later. The judge then ruled that there was "no doubt as to interpretation" and that the lost profits caused by the pandemic should be included in the insurance policy.
Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe will have to pay €3 million in tickets, €460,000 in guarantee against loss of profit and €44,000 in guarantee for cancellation – totalling €3.5 million. As of now, they have declined to comment, and it is unknown whether they will file an appeal in cassation.
