Mealey's Insurance Insolvency
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August 25, 2021
2nd Insurer Moves To Stay Asbestos Liability Dispute Following Liquidation Order
NEW ORLEANS — An insurer on Aug. 16 moved for a federal court in Louisiana to stay all further proceedings and prosecution against it in an asbestos liability lawsuit, contending that it is a part of an insolvent insurer that was recently ordered into liquidation in a Pennsylvania court.
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August 25, 2021
Co-Defendants Deny Liability For Cross-Claims Brought By Guaranty Association
NEWARK, N.J. — In an Aug. 17 answer to a first amended complaint in a personal injury lawsuit in which New Jersey Property-Liability Insurance Guaranty Association (NJPLIGA) filed a cross-claim seeking contribution from the other defendants for damages caused by a police car chase that led to a collision, two co-defendants “deny each and every allegation asserted” by NJPLIGA.
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August 25, 2021
Guaranty Association Meets Statutory Definition Of Insurer, S.C. Panel Affirms
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina appeals court on Aug. 18 affirmed a lower court’s ruling that the South Carolina Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association meets the statutory definition of an insurer and is entitled to seek reimbursement from the South Carolina Second Injury Fund for workers' compensation benefits that the Guaranty Association paid on behalf of an insolvent insurer.
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August 25, 2021
Puerto Rico Insurance Commissioner Again Reports Stay Of Appeal Remains In Effect
BOSTON — The Puerto Rico insurance commissioner and auxiliary rehabilitator on Aug. 18 informed the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that proceedings filed by the commonwealth of Puerto Rico under Title III of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) for adjustment of its debts are ongoing and that the automatic stay of proceedings in their appeal over retaliation claims brought by the former employees of a liquidated insurer remains in effect.
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August 25, 2021
Insured: Insurer Throws ‘Bedrock Principles Of Contract Construction To The Wind’
ATLANTA — An insured on Aug. 17 defended its appeal asking the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse a lower federal court’s dismissal of its breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for its business losses that were “directly caused” by government “stay-at-home” orders in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, contending that as much as the insurer “would like Florida law to support its arguments, the fact remains that it does not.”
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August 25, 2021
Panel Denies Government’s Request To Rehear Appeal Seeking To Vacate $24.5M ACA Award
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 20 denied the U.S. government’s petition for a panel rehearing of its appeal seeking to vacate a $24.5 million award for an insolvent insurer’s liquidator, rejecting the government’s challenge to the court’s finding that it does not have a right to offset Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) obligations during the insolvency proceeding and that the U.S. Court of Federal Claims’ money judgment was proper.
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August 19, 2021
Jury Trial Date In Reinsurance Billings Suit Reset On COVID-19 Travel Concerns
BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge on Aug. 17 rescheduled a jury trial in a reinsurance billings dispute over the allocation of a $120 million environmental claims settlement to Feb. 28, 2022; the dispute involves an English reinsurer, and electronic clerk’s notes in the docket say, “Due to the current travel ban in the UK, many of the witnesses who reside there will be unable to travel for the trial.”
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August 19, 2021
Judge Allows Distribution Of Funds To Insolvent Insurers In ACA Risk-Corridor Suit
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge said on Aug. 12 that a claims administrator may distribute 95% of funds recently recovered by two subclasses of insolvent insurers in a lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that the U.S. government owes the insurers millions of dollars under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) risk-corridor program, indicating that the remaining 5% will remain in escrow until resolution of class counsel’s motions for attorney fees.
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August 18, 2021
2nd Circuit Lifts Stay On Briefing Schedule In Reinsurance Billings Dispute
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 12 lifted a stay of the briefing schedule in a reinsurer’s appeal of a $35 million judgment entered in favor of an excess insurer in an asbestos coverage dispute, ordering the reinsurer to file its principal brief and the joint appendix by Aug. 20.
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August 16, 2021
Judge Remands S.C. DOI’s Suit Against Long-Term Care Insurer, Rehabilitator
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A federal judge in South Carolina on July 29 remanded the South Carolina Department of Insurance’s lawsuit seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against an insolvent long-term care insurer and its rehabilitator, finding that, at bottom, the federal court lacks subject matter jurisdiction.
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August 13, 2021
Federal Judge Denies Trustee’s Motion To Modify Trust Agreement
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida on July 30 affirmed and adopted a magistrate judge’s report recommending that a trustee’s motion to modify a trust agreement be denied in a Securities Exchange Commission lawsuit alleging fraudulent selling of investment interests in life insurance policies.
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August 05, 2021
Government Seeks Rehearing To Vacate $24.5M ACA Award For Insurer’s Liquidator
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. government on Aug. 2 filed a petition for a panel rehearing of the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ May 17 rejection of its appeal seeking to vacate a $24.5 million award for an insolvent insurer’s liquidator, challenging the court’s finding that it does not have a right to offset Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) obligations during the insolvency proceeding and that the U.S. Court of Federal Claims’ money judgment was proper.
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August 04, 2021
Judge Denies Health Insurer’s Motion To Dismiss Bad Faith, Breach Of Duty Claims
RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal judge in North Carolina on July 20 denied a motion by a health insurer in rehabilitation to dismiss bad faith and breach of fiduciary duty counterclaims brought by a borrower and pledgors in their dispute over an alleged default under a loan agreement.
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August 04, 2021
Federal Judge Refuses To Dismiss Insurers’ $14.5M Suit Brought Against Borrower
RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal judge in North Carolina on July 20 denied a borrower and its agent’s motions to dismiss a complaint filed by three insurers in rehabilitation seeking to recover $14.5 million from the borrower under a loan agreement for its alleged breach of contract in failing to make a first interest payment.
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August 04, 2021
Judge Denies Wealth Management Firms’ Motions To Dismiss Insurers’ $12.5M Suit
RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal judge in North Carolina on July 20 refused to dismiss a lawsuit brought against two wealth management firms with interests in a loan agreement by two insurers in rehabilitation seeking $12.5 million under the loan agreement.
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August 04, 2021
Judge Refuses To Dismiss Borrowers’ Counterclaims Against Insurer In Rehabilitation
RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal judge in North Carolina on July 20 denied an insurer in rehabilitation’s motion to dismiss bad faith and breach of fiduciary counterclaims brought by three borrowers that are named in separate suits over their alleged breach of loan agreements, calling the motion “meritless."
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August 03, 2021
Appellant To 9th Circuit: Challenge To Conservatorship Of Insurer Wrongly Dismissed
PASADENA, Calif. — In their July 26 appellants’ brief before the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenging the dismissal of their allegations that the California insurance commissioner and his deputies violated their constitutional rights and acted in bad faith by filing a conservatorship against a workers’ compensation insurer, a different insurer and its subsidiary argue that the doctrine of prior exclusive jurisdiction and abstention under Younger v. Harris do not apply.
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July 29, 2021
Regulators To 9th Circuit: Don’t Expedite Suit Testing Conservatorship Of Insurer
SAN FRANCISCO — Expediting an appeal contesting a California federal judge’s dismissal of allegations that state regulators abused their authority by actions including obtaining a conservatorship against a workers’ compensation insurance carrier is not warranted and would be prejudicial, the regulators tell the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in their July 27 opposition to a motion to expedite.
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July 26, 2021
Imposing New, Retroactive Risk On Insurers Would Threaten Solvency, Amicus Argues
ATLANTA — American Property Casualty Insurance Association on July 21 filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London in a coronavirus coverage suit, arguing to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that commercial property insurance policies “do not—and were never intended to—provide coverage for economic losses untethered to physical loss or physical damage.”
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July 22, 2021
Judge Tosses Suit Against Insurance Guaranty Association For Lack Of Jurisdiction
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A federal judge in Puerto Rico on July 20 granted Puerto Rico Miscellaneous Insurance Guaranty Association’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit seeking liability for damages arising from a slip-and-fall injury that allegedly occurred at the insured’s premises, finding that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction and the plaintiff is barred from suing the association because this lawsuit was initiated after the liquidation order was issued for the insured’s now-insolvent insurer.