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Mealey's Insurance Insolvency

  • 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.).

  • 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).

  • 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).

  • 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.).

  • 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).

  • 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.).

  • 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.).

  • 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).

  • 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).

  • 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).

  • 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.).

  • 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).

  • 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).

  • 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.).

  • May 29, 2018

    Justice Denies Stay Of Medical Malpractice Cases After Insurer’s Insolvency

    WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Declining to stay or sever claims against defendants following their medical malpractice insurer’s insolvency, a New York trial justice on April 23 referred 15 medical malpractice cases back to their respective counties for further proceedings (Veronica Hala, et al. v. Orange Regional Medical Center, et al., No. 3221/2014, N.Y. Sup., Orange Co., 2018 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1553).

  • May 29, 2018

    Justice Orders Limited Class Action Against Medical Insurer In Rehabilitation

    CONCORD, N.H. — A New Hampshire trial justice ordered a limited fund class action on May 24 against the excess funds the New Hampshire insurance commissioner seeks to tender in the winding down of a risk-sharing plan for a medical malpractice insurer (Georgia A. Tuttle, M.D., et al. v. New Hampshire Medical Malpractice Joint Underwriting Association and In the Matter of the Winding Down of the New Hampshire Medical Malpractice Joint Underwriting Association, No. 2015-347, N.H. Super., Merrimack Co., 2018 N.H. Super. LEXIS 12).

  • May 25, 2018

    Panel Reverses Dismissal Of Trust From Insolvent Insurer’s Liquidator’s Suit

    COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Court of Appeals on May 23 reversed a trial judge’s dismissal of a dissolved self-insurance trust from a liquidator’s declaratory judgment action over an insolvent insurer’s coverage obligations for workers’ compensation claims because it was not within the judge’s discretion to answer the novel question on whether a trust can be sued after it has voluntarily dissolved (Raymond G. Farmer v. CAGC Insurance Co., et al., No. 2016-000192, S.C. App., 2018 S.C. App. LEXIS 36).

  • May 25, 2018

    Insolvent Insurer’s Policy Does Not Cover Personal Injury Suit, Panel Finds

    CHICAGO — A Chicago cab company was not covered by the Illinois Insurance Guaranty Fund (IIGF) under an insolvent insurer’s policy for an underlying personal injury lawsuit because the accident occurred outside the time the subject taxi was covered, an Illinois appeals panel affirmed May 23 (The Illinois Insurance Guaranty Fund v. Israel P. Nwidor, et al., No. 1-17-1378, Ill. App., 1st Dist., Div. 3, 2018 Ill. App. LEXIS 301).

  • May 23, 2018

    Idaho Insurance Guaranty Association: No Jurisdiction Over Trust Bank’s Claim

    BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Insurance Guaranty Association (IIGA) argues in an April 19 reply brief that an Idaho federal court lacks supplemental jurisdiction over a trust bank’s wrongful acts claim because it and the trust are not diverse and there is no other independent basis for federal subject matter jurisdiction (Idaho Trust Bank v. BancInsure Inc., et al., No. 12-00032, D. Idaho).

  • May 21, 2018

    Panel Upholds Class Action Status In Dispute Over Illegal Insurance Transactions

    BATON ROUGE, La. — A Louisiana appeals panel on May 16 affirmed certification of a class in a case against state agencies and insurers over illegal transactions made to protect the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (Donald W. Abshire v. The State of Louisiana, et al., No. 2017CA0689 c/w 2017CA0690, La. App., 1st Cir., 2018 La. App. Unpub. LEXIS 141).