Mealey's Insurance Insolvency
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June 20, 2018
Judge Approves $11.3M For Claims In Liquidation Of Reliance Insurance
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania trial judge on June 6 approved the report and recommendation of a total allowed amount of $11.3 million for 246 notices of determination (NODs) in the liquidation of Reliance Insurance Co. (In re: Reliance Insurance Co. in liquidation, No. 1 REL 2001, Pa. Cmwlth.).
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June 20, 2018
New Jersey High Court Grants Insurer Leave To Appeal PIP Benefits Ruling
TRENTON, N.J. — The New Jersey Supreme Court on June 15 granted an auto insurer leave to appeal a ruling finding the insurer liable for personal injury protection (PIP) benefits for an unnamed additional insured under terms of a voided insurance contract (Tyrone S. Henry Sr., et al. v. Santosh S. Bhowmik, et al., No. N/A, N.J. Sup., 2018 N.J. LEXIS 795).
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June 19, 2018
High Court Denies Review Of Defamation Suit By Insolvent Insurer’s Former Employee
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on May 29 denied a petition by a former employee of an insolvent insurer asking whether, in defamation suits, “a court must distinguish between false and defamatory statements of ‘fact’ and false and defamatory statement[s] of ‘opinion,’ with the latter afforded protection from liability for defamation under the First Amendment” (Jamus Jacobs v. The Oath for Louisiana, et al., No. 17-1146, U.S. Sup.).
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June 19, 2018
Oklahoma Judge Issues Notice Of Hearing On Claims In Insurer’s Liquidation
OKLAHOMA CITY — In the liquidation of Driver’s Insurance Co., an Oklahoma judge on June 4 issued an amended notice of hearing for June 28 on the receiver’s eighth report on claims evaluation and request for confirmation of receiver’s recommendation (Oklahoma, ex rel., John D. Doak v. Driver’s Insurance Co., No. CJ-2013-694, Okla. Dist., Oklahoma Co.).
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June 19, 2018
Insurer’s Receiver Says It Has Distributed Checks, Started Closing Estate
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The receiver for the liquidation of Seminole Casualty Insurance Co. notified a Florida court on May 21 that it has distributed $979,588.47 in checks to claimants and that it is in the process of closing the insurer’s estate (In re: The receivership of Seminole Casualty Insurance Co., No. 2011-CA-000649, Fla. Cir., Leon Co.).
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June 19, 2018
New York Justice Approves Adjudication Procedure In Insurer’s Liquidation
JAMAICA, N.Y. — A New York justice on May 16 approved a liquidator’s adjudication procedure as to objections of denied claims and the appointment of a referee in the liquidation of Fiduciary Insurance Company of America (In the matter of the liquidation of Fiduciary Insurance Company of America, No. 703264/2017, N.Y. Sup., Queens Co.).
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June 19, 2018
Man Files Personal Injury Suit Against New Jersey Insurance Guaranty Association
NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey man sued the state’s insurance guaranty association and others on June 8 in a New Jersey trial court for personal injuries sustained from a car crash (Steve Eugene v. Taylor E. Legates, et al., No. ESX-L-004020, N.J. Super., Essex Co.).
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June 18, 2018
Alabama High Court Partly Reverses Ruling In Broker Liability Dispute
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Supreme Court on June 15 partly reversed a lower court’s ruling in favor of a brokerage firm in a negligence and wantonness lawsuit brought by insureds (Jimmy Larry Beddingfield et al. v. Mullins Insurance Company, et al., No. 1170143, Ala. Sup., 2018 Ala. LEXIS 60).
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June 15, 2018
Panel: Court Must Decide Jurisdiction In Insolvent Insurer’s Indemnity Suit
HOUSTON — A trial court must decide its subject matter jurisdiction before addressing whether indemnitees breached an indemnity agreement with an insolvent insurer, a Texas appeals panel ruled June 14, vacating the lower court’s ruling (Ullico Casualty Co., et al. v. Pelco Construction Company Inc., et al., No. 01-17-00034-CV, Texas App., 1st Dist., 2018 Tex. App. LEXIS 4345).
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June 15, 2018
Appeals Court Says Insurers Can’t Recover ACA Risk-Corridor Payments
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Health insurers may not collect billions in Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) risk-corridor funds because Congress specifically blocked payments, a majority of the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said June 14 (Land of Lincoln Mutual Health Insurance Co. v. United States, Moda Health Plan Inc. v. United States, Nos. 2017-1224, 2017-1994, Fed. Cir.).
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June 15, 2018
Judgment Issued In Personal Injury Suit After Insolvent Insurer’s $1M Settlement
NEW YORK — A New York justice on June 14 issued a judgment reflecting that two insureds are responsible for a $4 million judgment arising from a personal injury lawsuit after their insolvent insurer paid $1 million to the settlement of the case (Etta [Itty] Pruss v. Infiniti of Manhattan Inc., et al., No. 161240/13, N.Y. Sup., New York Co., 2018 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2164).
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June 13, 2018
New York Justice Orders Touchstone Health HMO Inc. Into Liquidation
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A New York justice ordered Touchstone Health HMO Inc. into liquidation on May 11 and appointed the state’s superintendent of insurance as liquidator (In re Touchstone Health HMO Inc., No. 54964/2018, N.Y. Sup., Westchester Co.).
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June 13, 2018
Insurer Opposes Bank’s Motion To Compel Documents In Reinsurance Handling Suit
COLUMBIA, S.C. — In a South Carolina federal court dispute involving a bank sued for its role as trustee of a reinsurance trust for an insolvent insurer, an insurer in a June 7 filing opposes the bank’s motion to compel the identity and production of documents related to damages (Accident Insurance Company Inc. v. U.S. Bank National Association, et al., No. 16-2621, D. S.C.).
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June 11, 2018
Judge Denies Protective Order On Reinsurance Info In Insurance Insolvency Case
ST. LOUIS — In a dispute over the mishandling of funds belonging to insolvent funeral insurers, a Missouri federal judge on June 8 denied a special deputy receiver’s motion for protective order as to documents and communications relating to any assumption reinsurance agreements (Jo Ann Howard & Associates P.C., et al. v. J. Douglas Cassity, et al., No. 09-01252, E.D. Mo., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96627).
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June 8, 2018
Panel: Reinsurers Have Burden To Show Impartiality In Insolvent Insurer’s Award
NEW YORK — In a reinsurance dispute between an insolvent insurer and underwriters, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held June 7 that a party seeking to vacate an award “must sustain a higher burden to prove evident partiality on the part of an arbitrator who is appointed by a party and who is expected to espouse the view or perspective of the appointing party” (Certain Underwriting Members of Lloyds of London, et al. v. Florida, et al., No. 17-1137, 2nd Cir., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 15377).
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June 7, 2018
Minnesota High Court: Remand Proper In Case Over Work For Insolvent Insurer
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Remand of a dispute over payment to a law firm on work done for an insolvent insurer’s liquidator to a trial court is appropriate, a majority of the Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed June 6, because the trial court determined the value of the firm’s services in quantum meruit based on an incorrect application of the law (Faricy Law Firm, P.A., v. API Inc., Asbestos Settlement Trust, No. A16-1539, Minn. Sup., 2018 Minn. LEXIS 304).
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June 5, 2018
Bank Asks Court To Join Insurers’ Receiver To Breach Of Fiduciary Suit
ST. LOUIS — Following a previous denial of its request, a bank in a June 1 filing asked a Missouri federal court to join a special deputy receiver for three insolvent insurers to the bank’s counterclaim petition in a breach of fiduciary lawsuit against a trustee for its role on preneed funeral contracts (Winner Road Properties LLC v. BMO Harris Bank, N.A., No. 16-1395, E.D. Mo.).
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June 5, 2018
Panel Affirms Objection To Liquidator’s Allowance Of Administrative Expense Claims
CHICAGO — An Illinois appeals panel on June 1 upheld the California Insurance Guarantee Association’s (CIGA) objection to a petition by the liquidator for three insolvent insurers for the allowance of claims for administrative expenses of certain state insurance guaranty associations (Illinois, ex rel., Jennifer Hammer v. Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Co., et al., No. 1-17-0996, Ill. App., 1st Dist., 6th Div., 2018 Ill. App. LEXIS 320).
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June 4, 2018
Judge Stays Coverage Suit Pending Insurer’s Liquidation Proceedings
CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge on June 1 stayed a coverage dispute between an insolvent Missouri insurer and an insured doctor regarding coverage provided under a professional liability insurance policy pending the duration of the liquidation proceedings (Galen Insurance Co. v. Vittorio Guerriero, M.D., et al., No. 15-06993, N.D. Ill., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91393).
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June 1, 2018
Parents Sue New Jersey Insurance Guaranty Association For Benefits
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Parents sued the New Jersey Property-Liability Insurance Guaranty Association (NJPLIGA) on May 30 in a New Jersey trial court for declining to provide statutory personal insurance protection (PIP) benefits for their child’s personal injuries (Brian Escobar, et al. v. Jonathan Santos, et al., No. HUD-L-002110-18, N.J. Super., Hudson Co.).