Antwerp Court of Appeal confirms pandemic exclusion clause in Event Cancellation Policy in one of rare Belgian COVID-19 coverage disputes

In a recent judgment of 30 June 2026, the Antwerp Court of Appeal overruled an earlier decision from the Antwerp Enterprise Court and decided that event cancellation insurers could validly rely on a pandemic exclusion clause.

A well-known Belgian music festival organiser had taken out an event cancellation policy in January 2020 for a music festival scheduled to take place on the French Alps between 18 and 20 March 2020. The policy included an exclusion for losses caused by "a pandemic and/or non-seasonal epidemic".

Because of the spread of COVID-19, the French public authorities decided on 5 March 2020 that the festival could not take place.

At that moment, the WHO had not yet formally declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic. This was only done on 11 March 2020 so that on the date of loss (5 March 2020) insurers did not prove that the conditions of a pandemic were actually fulfilled, despite expert witness evidence by insurers.

Insurers appealed and in a judgment from 30 June 2026 the Antwerp Court of Appeal decided otherwise. It first ruled that not the insurers but the insured had the burden of proof to demonstrate that the cause or reason for the cancellation was not a pandemic. In that burden, the Court stated that the 11 March 2020 WHO statement was not decisive, also because of the political/administrative nature of such decision. The insured had not presented any expert witness evidence and the Court decided that it did not succeed in its burden of proof. Its coverage claim was therefore rejected.

This is one of the very few COVID-19 coverage decisions rendered by a Belgian court. This case demonstrates the importance of pandemic exclusion clauses in insurance contracts and the rather creative way insureds and courts try to get around them to avoid their application. It may also be an important lesson in view of recent Belgian interruptions of ongoing music festivals because of extreme weather conditions on Saturday, 27 June 2026 (Paradise City, Werchter Boutique and Couleur Cafe) not to think that an event cancellation insurance policy does not cover simply "everything", but that its terms and conditions must be well considered and checked before taking out the policy or filing a claim with insurers.

The Lydian team led by Partner Hugo Keulers also consisted of Tine Meurs and Robin De Zutter and represented 3 of the 4 co-insurers, including the primary insurer.

You will find the text of the (blacklined) judgment below.

To all: a great summer with hopefully for everyone holiday plans that will not have to be cancelled ☀️🌴.