A North Carolina pottery company is suing Travelers, saying the insurer wrongly denied business interruption coverage after Hurricane Helene shut down its Asheville operations.
East Fork Pottery, LLC, a limited liability company based in Buncombe County, filed its complaint on August 5, 2025, in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. The defendant, The Phoenix Insurance Company – better known in the market as Travelers – faces allegations that it failed to honor a Deluxe Property Insurance Policy after the hurricane struck on September 27, 2024.
According to the complaint, East Fork was insured under Travelers’ Deluxe Property Insurance Policy No. Y-630-3Y624710-PHX-24. That policy included coverage for business income and extra expenses, as well as a flood endorsement and a civil authority clause. East Fork claims that when Hurricane Helene hit Asheville, the storm’s winds downed thousands of trees near its properties. In the aftermath, local, state, and federal civil authorities imposed travel bans and road closures, blocking access to the company’s insured locations…