HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania court was asked by the liquidator for Reliance Insurance Co. on Feb. 5 to approve final omnibus notices of determinations (NODs) that have been issued to guaranty associations (GAs) to resolve all the claims submitted by those individual GAs (In re: Reliance Insurance Co. in liquidation, No. 1 REL 2001, Pa. Cmwlth.).
ST. LOUIS — Two banks assert in a Feb. 14 reply brief that a Missouri federal court should grant their motion for partial judgment on claims for certain alleged categories of damages in a dispute filed by a special deputy receiver and state insurance guaranty associations regarding allegations over the mishandling of insolvent funeral insurers’ funds (Jo Ann Howard & Associates P.C., et al. v. J. Douglas Cassity, et al., No. 09-01252, E.D. Mo.).
PATERSON, N.J. — A New Jersey resident and the New Jersey Property-Liability Insurance Guaranty Association (NJPLIGA) were named as defendants in a personal injury lawsuit filed Feb. 13 in state court (Maria Rodriguez v. Shamira Tirado, et al., No. PAS-L-000485-19, N.J. Super., Passaic Co.).
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A New York justice on Feb. 5 appointed a referee to hear disputes regarding claim determinations made in the liquidation proceeding of Touchstone Health HMO Inc. and approved the procedure for the liquidator’s adjudication of claims (In the matter of the liquidation of Touchstone Health HMO Inc., No. 54964/2018, N.Y. Sup., Westchester Co.).
NEW YORK — In their fraud and conspiracy lawsuit, liquidators for two hedge funds tell a New York federal court in a Feb. 11 brief that they have asserted specific allegations to withstand motions to dismiss their amended complaint claiming that funds with a net asset value of nearly $1 billion turned out not only to be insolvent but also to have liabilities between $400 million and $800 million (Martin Trott, et al. v. Platinum Management [NY] LLC, et al., No. 18-10936, S.D. N.Y.).
COLUMBIA, S.C. — In a breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit against a bank sued for its role as trustee of a reinsurance trust for an insolvent insurer, a federal magistrate judge in South Carolina on Feb. 12 ordered all parties to conduct mediation (Accident Insurance Company Inc. v. U.S. Bank National Association, et al., No. 16-2621, D. S.C.).
NEW YORK — A New York justice on Feb. 1 closed the ancillary receivership proceeding for Guarantee Insurance Co. (In the matter of the ancillary receivership of Guarantee Insurance Co., No. 453158/2017, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.).
CONCORD, N.H. — Regarding a mutually insured religious organization, an insurer tells a New Hampshire trial court in a Feb. 11 response that a $2.5 million settlement agreement reached between the insured and the liquidator of The Home Insurance Co. does not affect any contribution or subrogation the insurer may have in the future against the estate (In the matter of the liquidation of The Home Insurance Co., No. 03-E-0106, N.H. Super., Merrimack Co.).
ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands — A Virgin Islands insurance commissioner in a Feb. 6 petition asks a Virgin Islands federal court to appoint him and successors as Real Legacy Assurance Company Inc.’s ancillary receiver (Tregenza A. Roach v. Real Legacy Assurance Company Inc., No. 19-00007, D. Virgin Islands).
NEW YORK — In 11 motions filed Feb. 4, parties argue under a theory of impermissible group pleading that a New York federal court should dismiss a fraud and conspiracy lawsuit filed by liquidators for two hedge funds over allegations that the funds with a net asset value of nearly $1 billion turned out not only to be insolvent but also to have liabilities between $400 million and $800 million (Martin Trott, et al. v. Platinum Management [NY] LLC, et al., No. 18-10936, S.D. N.Y.).
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congress’ promise to cover Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) risk-corridor liabilities only to revoke that duty in vaguely worded appropriations riders is a “bait-and-switch” tactic that leaves the government completely unaccountable, a quartet of insurers tell the U.S. Supreme Court in a trio of Feb. 4 petitions (Land of Lincoln Mutual Health Insurance Co. v. United States, No. N/A, Moda Health Plan Inc. v. United States, No. 18-1028, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina v. United States, No. 17-2154, Maine Community Health Options v. United States, No. 18-1023, U.S. Sup.).
PATERSON, N.J. — A New Jersey man seeks damages in a Feb. 1 complaint filed in a New Jersey court from New Jersey Property Liability Insurance Guaranty Association (NJPLIGA) for injuries suffered in a motor vehicle accident (Charles McQueen v. New Jersey Property Liability Insurance Guaranty Association, No. PAS-L-000353-19, N.J. Super., Passaic Co.).
ANDERSON, S.C. — A request for default judgment by a special deputy receiver for a multiple-employer self-insured health plan was denied by a South Carolina federal judge on Jan. 28 (Michael J. FitzGibbons, et al. v. Alton Atkinson, et al., No. 17-2092, D. S.C., 2019 Ga. LEXIS 69).
ST. LOUIS — In a dispute over the mishandling of funds belonging to insolvent funeral insurers, banks argue in a Feb. 1 motion filed in a Missouri federal court that their investment adviser, authorization and an in pari delicto defenses are supported by the law and the evidence in the case (Jo Ann Howard & Associates P.C., et al. v. J. Douglas Cassity, et al., No. 09-01252, E.D. Mo.).
ATLANTA — An official immunity provision does not apply to claims for a “surcharge” and attorney fees against an insurance commissioner and two employees, all in official capacities as liquidator and deputies for an insurer, and against a private company involved in the liquidation, the Georgia Supreme Court held Feb. 4 (Georgia, et al. v. International Indemnity Co., et al., No. S18G0493; Regulatory Technologies Inc. v. Georgia, et al., No. S18G0499, Ga. Sup., 2019 Ga. LEXIS 69).
NEW ORLEANS — The government argues in a Feb. 1 brief that there was no abuse of discretion by a lower court in a criminal action over an auditor’s role in the liquidation of an insolvent insurer and that, instead, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should affirm the lower court’s ruling denying the auditor’s motion for a certificate of innocence for a conviction for money laundering (United States v. Michael H. O’Keefe Sr., No. 18-31033, 5th Cir.).
NEW YORK — A reinsurer and its entities argue in a Jan. 29 reply brief that a run-off insurer fails to assert claims for breach of fiduciary duty and fraud in a New York federal court dispute over the alleged mismanagement and misuse of $320 million (Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania v. Beechwood Re Ltd., et al., No. 18-6658, S.D. N.Y.).
JACKSON, Miss. — An assessment by the Workers’ Compensation Group Self-Insurer Guaranty Association (GGA) was invalid because the guaranty fund’s balance never declined to a level that allows for additional assessments, a Mississippi appeals panel ruled Jan. 29 (Mississippi Manufacturers Association Workers’ Compensation Group v. Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Group Self-Insurer Guaranty Association, No. 2015-WC-01695-COA c/w No. 2017-WC-01680-COA c/w No. 2017-WC-01678-COA, Miss. App., 2019 Miss. App. LEXIS 45).
ST. LOUIS — In a Missouri federal court case over the mishandling of insolvent funeral insurers’ funds, a special deputy receiver and state insurance guaranty associations say in a Jan. 28 response that a bank “committed multiple and systemic breaches of trust throughout its six-year tenure as trustee” (Jo Ann Howard & Associates P.C., et al. v. J. Douglas Cassity, et al., No. 09-01252, E.D. Mo.).
WILMINGTON, Del. — In a Chapter 11 proceeding, a Delaware bankruptcy judge on Jan. 25 indicated uncertainty about whether a reinsurance firm is able to delay a $1.25 million payment as reimbursement owed to a stalking horse bidder that did not win an auction for the bankruptcy sale of the company (In re Scottish Holdings Inc., et al., No. 18-10160, D. Del. Bkcy.).