The UK Supreme Court has set aside four days next week to hear insurer and regulator appeals over a business interruption test case judgment that could affect hundreds of thousands of policyholders.

The hearing, which jumps the Court of Appeal in a fast-tracked process, will begin two months after the High Court handed down its judgement on the case, brought by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to resolve COVID-related shut-down disputes.

The FCA, Arch Insurance, Argenta Syndicate Management, MS Amlin, Hiscox Insurance Company, QBE, Royal & SunAlliance and the policyholder Hiscox Action Group are appealing various aspects of the decision.

The High Court’s September 15 ruling made assessments on 21 sample wordings from eight insurers, with outcomes having potential implications for some 700 types of policies across 60 insurers, affecting 370,000 policyholders, according to the FCA.

In the case of QBE, the High Court found in favour of the insurer on two wordings and against on a third. All three decisions will be tested in the Supreme Court, with both the FCA and QBE appealing.

Issues raised by the FCA and the six insurers for the appeal relate to disease and prevention of access clauses as well as hybrid wordings.

“We believe that this ‘leapfrog’ appeal to the Supreme Court is the fastest way to get legal clarity for all parties in the event that it is not possible to find a solution with insurers which resolves outstanding issues, before the appeal takes place, to enable pay-outs on eligible claims,” the FCA said last week.

Hiscox says it’s not clear when the Supreme Court will publish its judgment, but further information about timings may be provided at the end of the hearing.

The initial court case was triggered by business interruptions sparked by government actions in March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, while the appeal takes place as the UK locks down again amid another outbreak wave.