Kanye West's touring company has accused insurance firm Lloyd's of London of refusing to pay out over the star's cancelled tour.

Very Good Touring is suing the UK-based specialist insurer for $10 million (£7.6 million), according to documents filed with a Californian federal court on Tuesday.

West cancelled 21 dates of a planned tour after falling ill in November last year and undergoing treatment at a psychiatric centre in Los Angeles.

The rapper spent "hundreds of thousands of dollars" on insurance with Lloyd's to cover the costs of a cancellation but is yet to receive a payment, according to the legal document.

In the document, Very Good Touring said that Lloyds had implied it can refuse to pay out by claiming West's marijuana use had caused his medical condition.

Lawyer Howard King wrote that the insurance company had failed to give "anything approaching a coherent explanation about why they have not paid, or any indication if they will ever pay or even make a coverage decision".

The document details that West was playing in Sacramento, California, on November 19 when his "strained, confused and erratic" behaviour caused him to stop the show.

He then spent eight days in a neuropsychiatric centre at UCLA during which it was decided he could not go on with the tour, it adds.

West's behaviour at the time included him making controversial statements about Jay-Z and Beyonce and pledging his support to Donald Trump, who was then running for US president.

Mr King also took aim at Lloyds accusing the company of "maliciously" sharing confidential information with news outlets about West to intimidate him from taking legal action, and criticised it for running "unending" investigations to avoid making pay-out decisions.

A spokeswoman for Lloyd's of London declined to discuss the Kanye West legal action, saying: "We're not able to comment on matters in litigation."

Very Good Touring is suing for more than $9,861,000 (£7,464,000) in damages and is demanding interest be paid over the alleged breach of contract.