Lloyd's of London is facing claims from a touring company linked to Kanye West that it failed to pay out $10m of cover after the US rap artist cancelled a series of concerts last year.
The Very Good Touring company has alleged a breach of contract by unnamed syndicates, and is seeking punitive damages against them to help cover losses from the canned shows, which are said to amount to $9.8m.
West was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for unrevealed reasons late last year, and so cancelled planned dates in his Saint Pablo tour.
Reports of court papers filed by Very Good Touring's lawyers said the syndicates had required West "submit to an immediate independent medical examination" after he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in November, which triggered the scrapping of the concerts.
The papers alleged that "a doctor hand-selected by the insurers' counsel" was "predisposed to look for some reason to deny the claim. Yet even defendants' selected doctor had to admit that Kanye was disabled from being able to continue with the tour".
Very Good Touring's court filing says the insurance it had bought was to cover against "accidental bodily injury or illness" during West's tour, and hospitalisation should qualify for this.
A spokesperson for Lloyd's examining the matter of Kanye West declined to comment this morning. Very Good Touring and Kanye West could not be reached for comment.