Metallica have filed an insurance lawsuit against Lloyd’s Of London over losses suffered as a result of postponing its South American tour due to coronavirus.

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The band were due to embark on a six-date tour of South America with support from Greta Van Fleet in April 2020, with the shows planned before the global pandemic shut down the live music industry.

Metallica rescheduled the shows for December 2020, but with the pandemic showing no signs of slowing down, those dates were also postponed. The band said it was hoping to reschedule the shows for late 2021, but as of yet no new dates have been announced.

Filed on Monday (June 7) in the Los Angeles Superior Court, the lawsuit alleges breach of contract, with the band seeking unspecified compensatory damages, according to CBS Los Angeles.

The lawsuit further details that Metallica bought a standard “cancellation, abandonment and non-appearance insurance” policy in order to cover their losses if any portion of the tour was postponed or cancelled, and that the band “timely turned to [Lloyd’s] for the promised and reasonably expected coverage for their losses”.

It also alleges that Lloyd’s Of London cited the policy’s communicable disease exclusion and “denied any coverage obligation whatsoever based on an unreasonably restrictive interpretation of the policy”.

On Thursday (June 10), a representative for Lloyd’s of London responded to the suit. “Lloyd’s is not an insurance company, it oversees and regulates a market of independent insurers,” the statement read. “For that reason, we have no information on any specific policy or lawsuit and in any event are not authorised to comment on matters in litigation.”

Meanwhile, the line-up for the 2021 instalment of Kentucky’s Louder Than Life Festival has been announced, boasting a plethora of big-name rock and metal acts including Metallica, who will perform two different sets across two separate nights of the festival.