Small firms could be entitled to thousands from insurers after Covid payment ruling

The complaints body ruled the dental practice whose claim was initially denied and later approved should be paid interest by QBE, one of the largest insurers in the world. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Hundreds of thousands of small businesses that claimed on their insurance during the Covid pandemic but had their payouts delayed could be owed thousands of pounds after a ruling by the UK’s financial ombudsman.

In what campaigners say is a key test case, the complaints body has ruled that a dental practice whose claim had been initially declined but later approved should be paid interest by QBE, one of the largest insurers in the world.