According to NBC Los Angeles, the legendary thrash metal band Metallica has sued the insurer Lloyd’s of London for not covering the band for financial damages from their postponed shows because of the pandemic. Metallica had been forced to postpone six shows in 2020 in South America due to COVID.
One of the greatest hard rock bands of all time, Metallica had been on an eight-show tour with two shows in September 2019 in San Fransisco, and six of them were to be in Santiago, Chile as the South America leg of the tour beginning in April 2020. The show would have been the first set of shows since the rehab period of James Hetfield in 2019 and Greta Van Fleet was to be performing as the opening act.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the travel restrictions, the band had to postpone the shows weeks before their scheduled time. Yet before the tour, Metallica claims that they purchased a ‘cancellation, abandonment and non-appearance insurance‘ policy in case of any postponements and cancellations.
However, according to NBC Los Angeles, Lloyd’s denied covering the band for their losses citing their communicable disease exclusion as the suit alleges. The lawsuit also adds that their rejection to cover the losses was ‘based on an unreasonably restrictive interpretation of the policy.’
Metallica has reached the authorities on June 7 in Los Angeles Superior Court and claimed a breach of contract saying Lloyd’s has failed to compensate the band for the financial damage the postponements had caused. The band is now seeking unspecified compensatory damages along with a declaration of the rights and obligations of the parties. Apart from that, the band also appears on the announcement of the lineup for 2021 Louder Than Life Festival, which is going to be held in September 2021.
