US court rulings have backed insurers in denying COVID-19 business interruption claims due to an absence of direct physical losses, as the industry continues to come under pressure over the issue.

A District of Columbia Superior Court judge ruling this month says the coronavirus leaves no visible imprint or structural alteration and therefore does not trigger coverage.

The Insurance Information Institute says the judge stated plaintiffs “failed to put forth” any cases supporting their contention that a mayoral order constitutes direct physical loss under an insurance policy.

Mayoral orders directed businesses to take certain actions but did not effect any direct change to properties “in and of themselves”, according to the judgment.

The case was brought by an owner of restaurants affected by orders that included a ban on indoor dining, the closure of non-essential businesses and requirements for residents to shelter-in-place.

According to media reports the policy purchased covered loss of income due to interruptions resulting “directly from loss or damage” to the property. It insured against “direct physical loss” with some exceptions that were judged not material.

The plaintiffs also unsuccessfully argued that the losses were physical because COVID-19 is material and tangible rather than abstract.

“This latest verdict follows a Michigan state court ruling last month that also sided with insurers, finding that tangible alteration to a property is required to trigger BI coverage,” the Insurance Information Institute said.

In that case, also involving restaurants, the judge further rules that a policy virus exclusion would apply even if physical loss or damage had been alleged.

The ruling rejects arguments that government orders or civil authority, not COVID-19, caused the loss of use of the restaurants.

The judge says that argument is “simply nonsense and it comes nowhere close to meeting the requirement that there has to be some physical alteration to, or physical damage or tangible damage to the integrity of the building”.

The Insurance Information Institute in May launched the Future of American Insurance and Reinsurance (FAIR) campaign to promote actions the industry is taking during the COVID-19 outbreak and to highlight why pandemics are uninsurable.

The group rejects “attempts to manipulate language in unwarranted litigation” and says moves to retroactively include uninsurable pandemic risk in business interruption cover is detrimental to policyholders, communities, insurers and economic growth.