Spectrum Retirement Communities, LLC, et al. v. Continental Casualty Company

In its amicus brief, United Policyholders urges the Colorado Supreme Court to reverse the Court of Appeals majority’s ruling in Spectrum, which imposed a judicially created “complete uninhabitability” requirement for coverage under standard all-risk commercial property insurance policies. UP argues this requirement has no basis in the policy language, contradicts the Colorado Supreme Court’s nearly 60-year-old precedent in Western Fire, conflicts with case law nationwide, and produces perverse results by penalizing essential businesses that were legally required to remain partially open during the COVID-19 pandemic. UP further argues that whether an airborne toxin such as a virus can cause physical damage to property is a fact-intensive scientific question that courts cannot resolve against a plaintiff at the pleading stage.