A claimant sued an insurance company for canceling an 80th birthday party at Sting's estate in Italy.

Pennsylvania-based Wingstone Investment Holdings and its sole owner Loralee West have filed a lawsuit against insurance company Houston Casualty Co. seeking payment under an event cancellation policy. The company organized a three-day music festival to celebrate its owner's 80th birthday at the Italian residence of musician Sting. However, the last two days of the festival had to be canceled due to a severe thunderstorm that damaged the venue and endangered guests and performers.

Wingstone claims the insurance company did not pay her claim or even make a coverage decision before the deadline for being able to file a claim closed. The festival, dubbedTuscany 2022, was to take place July 6-8, 2022, on the Il Palagio estate just south of Florence, Italy. Wingstone has booked a vocal group for the first night of the three-day event, Sting, singer Shaggy and The Last Bandoleros for the second night and Andrea Bocelli, Matteo Bocelli, Andrea Griminelli, Ilaria Dela Bidia and supporting musicians for the third night.

Wingstone has contracted with a production company to install outdoor stages, including sound and lighting equipment. During the second night, Sting and Shaggy took the stage and began their performance. Suddenly, a severe thunderstorm hit the venue. Lightning appeared, the wind picked up, branches and needles of conifers began to fall from the trees, and it began to rain heavily. According to the plaintiff, Sting stopped the show and announced, "For everyone's safety, we need to get in right now. Lightning is coming.".

Wingstone says the storm posed a "serious safety threat" to attendees, who ended up hiding in Sting's private residence near the stage. The wind and lightning continued for about 45 minutes. Wind gusts were reported as high as 45 miles per hour. The lawsuit says the storm damaged the venue, making it unsuitable for performances.

The lawsuit alleges that "physical damage caused by the storm rendered the venue unsuitable" for performances, and therefore the remaining performances on July 7 and 8 could not take place. Wingstone claims her losses due to the storm totaled about $2.8 million, and she has filed a claim with HCC under the event's cancellation policy.

The lawsuit also mentions that West tested positive for Covid-19 during the third day of the event. However, the lawsuit does not discuss how this Covid-19 diagnosis misrepresented the situation or what consequences might result from excluding communicable diseases in the policy.

The event cancellation policy has a limit of nearly $4.6 million, for which Wingstone paid a premium of $45,825. The policy has no deductible. The policy covers losses caused by "adverse weather" that created conditions that "posed a serious safety hazard" to attendees or event organizers, or made the event "physically impossible" to use due to physical damage to the venue or complete inaccessibility. Coverage "does not extend to the cancellation, termination, reduction, interruption, postponement, or postponement of individual events that are part of the entire insured event. "

In response to HCC's requests, Wingstone states that it provided HCC with more than 500 documents in February and March 2023, and in April 2023, West submitted an affidavit on Wingstone's behalf.

The policy states that any claims or actions must be filed within 12 months of the loss. As the 12-month period was coming to an end, Wingstone asked HCC when it could expect a decision on its application. According to the plaintiff, HCC said it would not be able to make a decision within the 12-month timeframe. Thus, Wingstone and HCC agreed to extend the deadline to Oct. 21, 2023.

Wingstone filed suit in federal court in Pennsylvania against HCC on Sept. 22, alleging that HCC has not paid her insurance benefits to date and has not communicated its decision regarding Wingstone's application. Wingstone is asking the court to find that the insurance company must reimburse her for her losses, as well as interest and damages for moral damages.