UK business interruption (BI) settlements for claims triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic have climbed to £566.6 million ($1 billion), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) says.

Final settlements have been agreed and paid for 18,958 policies, the FCA’s latest monthly update shows, while interim or initial payments of £308.9 million ($566.9 million) have been made on an additional 4975 claims.

“This means that, at the point of this information submission, 23,933 BI policyholders out of the 40,531 who had had claims accepted, had received at least an interim payment,” FCA says.

The regulator says any business interruption policyholders who believe they may have a claim but have not yet submitted it to their insurer should do so as soon as possible.

“We remind firms of the need to handle claims promptly and fairly and to provide reasonable guidance to help a policyholder to make a claim,” it says.

The UK Supreme Court last week published declarations providing additional detail on the application of its judgment for policies in the test case samples brought by the FCA.

The court handed down its judgment on January 15, concluding the legal appeals process.