As previously reported, Metallica filed a lawsuit against insurer Lloyd’s Of London in June after the company allegedly refused to cover losses they suffered after their South American tour was cancelled due to the pandemic. Now, according to Business Insurance, a Los Angeles Superior Court has decided not to dismiss the case during the preliminary stage of litigation since a “proximate cause” has not been established as to what caused the losses.

Metallica made the complaint after their “cancellation, abandonment and non-appearance insurance” policy was denied due to a policy that excludes communicable diseases. The group said that the decision was “an unreasonably restrictive interpretation of the policy” and that the company had breached their contract.

The band also argued that Lloyd’s “cannot conclusively say that the Pandemic is the efficient proximate cause of the cancellations because there are other adequately alleged causes that are covered under the Policy.” This includes “travel restrictions, the duty to mitigate damages, the need to ‘flatten the curve’ and stay-at-home orders.”

After the group initially filed the lawsuit, a representative from Lloyd’s issued the following statement:

“Lloyd’s is not an insurance company, it oversees and regulates a market of independent insurers. For that reason, we have no information on any specific policy or lawsuit and in any event are not authorized to comment on matters in litigation.”

For their part, Metallica acknowledged that Lloyd’s is “a market in which independent insurance underwriters join together syndicates to sell insurance, mainly through brokers, under the umbrella of the Lloyd’s brand name.” The band are currently seeking unspecified damages and a declaration of the rights and obligations of the parties.

[via Blabbermouth]