The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) second business interruption test case is set to start next Monday in the Federal Court after it was delayed by a week to allow more time to gather information.

ICA says the decision was due to difficulties some policyholders had in obtaining verified government data and expert evidence related to the location and prevalence of COVID-19 outbreaks.

The test case, to be heard by Justice Jayne Jagot, consists of nine small business claims lodged with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority as part of its dispute resolution process.

The disputes are from multiple states and include a travel agent, restaurant, food store, dental surgery, costume shop, property owner, dry cleaner, beauty salon and a gym.

ICA says the hearing, scheduled for eight days concluding September 15, will proceed on the basis of the available evidence, but policyholders will have the ability to present certain additional factual and expert evidence if it later becomes available.

The change is not expected to affect the timeframe for any appeal, which has been scheduled to be heard by the Full Court of the Federal Court in the first week of November.

A separate matter involving QBE and related to a travel agency and Victorian property law will also be heard alongside the ICA test case.