Mealey's Insurance Insolvency
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January 14, 2019
Reliance’s Receiver Breached Duty To Defend Insured In Personal Injury Suit, Panel Says
NEW YORK — A New York appeals panel affirmed Jan. 10 that an ancillary receiver for Reliance Insurance Co. breached its duty to defend an insured in an underlying personal injury suit stemming from a nightclub shooting (In re Sean Combs v. Superintendent of Financial Services of the State of New York as Ancillary Receiver for Reliance Insurance Co., No. 405987/01, N.Y. Sup., App. Div., 1st Dept., 2019 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 194).
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January 11, 2019
Panel Vacates Insurance Agent’s Summary Judgment On Professional Negligence
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — After finding that a judge erred in excluding expert testimony on an insurance agent’s standard of care regarding placed insurance with an insolvent insurer, a Tennessee appeals court panel on Jan. 9 vacated an entry of summary judgment to the agent on a professional negligence claim (Joy Littleton, et al. v. TIS Insurance Services Inc., No. E2018-00477-COA-R3-CV, Tenn. App., 2019 Tenn. App. LEXIS 13).
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January 10, 2019
CIGA: Claims Against Government Were Improperly Dismissed On Preemption
SAN FRANCISCO — In a dispute with Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar II on who is responsible for payment to insureds of workers’ compensation plans that become insolvent, the California Insurance Guarantee Association (CIGA) argues in a Jan. 8 reply brief to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that a lower court erred in dismissing claims based on preemption grounds and based on the government’s failure to timely file proofs of claims (California Insurance Guarantee Association v. Alex Azar II, et al., Nos. 17-56526 & 17-56528, 9th Cir.).
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January 8, 2019
Run-Off Insurer’s 2nd Amended Complaint Sought To Be Partially Dismissed
NEW YORK — In a dispute over the alleged mismanagement and misuse of $320 million, a run-off insurer’s second amended complaint should be dismissed, a reinsurer and its entities argue in a Jan. 7 motion in a New York federal court because the run-off insurer fails to sufficiently allege claims arising out of a breach of fiduciary duty and fraud (Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania v. Beechwood Re Ltd., et al., No. 18-6658, S.D. N.Y.).
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January 7, 2019
California High Court Denies Review To State’s Insurance Guaranty Association
SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court on Jan. 2 denied a petition filed by the California Insurance Guarantee Association (CIGA) to review a question on whether a medical care provider’s lien claim is a covered claim and whether subdivision (c)(9)(B) of California Insurance Code Section 1063.1 bars that claim (California Insurance Guarantee Association v. Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, et al., No. S252560, Calif. Sup., 2019 Cal. LEXIS 78).
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January 4, 2019
Pennsylvania Elected Leaders Appeal Federal Judge’s Constitutional Rights Ruling
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Elected leaders of the Pennsylvania General Assembly on Jan. 3 appealed a Pennsylvania federal judge’s ruling in favor of the Pennsylvania Professional Liability Joint Underwriting Association (JUA) that certain sections of Pennsylvania Act 41 are unconstitutional in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth and 14th Amendments (Pennsylvania Professional Liability Joint Underwriting Association v. Tom Wolf, et al., No. 18-1308, M.D. Pa.).
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January 4, 2019
Testimony Sought To Be Barred In Case Over Funds Mishandling For Insurers
ST. LOUIS — Banks in a Jan. 2 motion seek to exclude an expert witness from offering rebuttal damages opinions in a Missouri federal court case filed by a special deputy receiver and state insurance guaranty associations over the mishandling of funds belonging to insolvent funeral insurers (Jo Ann Howard & Associates P.C., et al. v. J. Douglas Cassity, et al., No. 09-01252, E.D. Mo.).
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January 3, 2019
Run-Off Insurer Files 2nd Amended Complaint Against Reinsurer, Its Entities
NEW YORK — After a New York federal judge’s dismissal of tort and quasi-contract claims against a reinsurer and its entities, a run-off insurer filed a second amended complaint on Dec. 28 in its 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.).
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December 21, 2018
Run-Off Insurer Seeks To Add Claims In Case Over Funds Mismanagement
NEW YORK — A run-off insurer in a Dec. 15 motion seeks to add a fraudulent inducement claim regarding a $50 million investment against an individual defendant as well as civil conspiracy, aiding and abetting the breach of fiduciary duty and fraud claims to its New York federal court lawsuit against a reinsurer and its entities (Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania v. Beechwood Re Ltd., et al., No. 18-6658, S.D. N.Y.).
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December 20, 2018
Home’s Liquidator Seeks Approval Of Settlement Agreement With Reinsurer
CONCORD, N.H. — The New Hampshire insurance commissioner on Dec. 3 sought approval of a settlement agreement reached with a reinsurer in a state trial court’s liquidation of The Home Insurance Co. (In the matter of the liquidation of The Home Insurance Co., No. 03-E-0106, N.H. Super., Merrimack Co.).
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December 20, 2018
Staffing Company, Insurer Stipulate To Dismissal Of Breach Of Contract Case
GREENSBORO, N.C. — On Dec. 17, a month after a North Carolina federal judge refused to dismiss a breach of contract lawsuit against an insurer regarding the return of collateral funds, the insurer and a staffing and personnel placement company announced a stipulation of dismissal (Debbie’s Staffing Services Inc. v. Highpoint Risk Services LLC, et al., No. 17-657, M.D. N.C.).
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December 20, 2018
Insolvent Insurer’s Receiver: Settlement Reached With Reinsurance Intermediaries
OKLAHOMA CITY — An insolvent insurer’s receiver told an Oklahoma federal judge on Dec. 18 that a settlement has been reached with reinsurance intermediaries over a claim of negligence in reinsurance services provided to the insurer (Oklahoma, et al. v. Axiom Re LP, et al., No. 17-484, Oklahoma, et al. v. Brown & Brown Insurance Inc., et al., No. 17-700, W.D. Okla.).
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December 19, 2018
Pennsylvania Law Violates Insurance Association’s Constitutional Rights, Judge Says
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania federal judge on Dec. 18 entered judgment in favor of the Pennsylvania Professional Liability Joint Underwriting Association (JUA), declaring that Sections 3, 4 and 5 of Pennsylvania Act 41 are unconstitutional in violation of the Fifth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution (Pennsylvania Professional Liability Joint Underwriting Association v. Tom Wolf, No. 18-1308, M.D. Pa., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 212542).
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December 18, 2018
New Jersey Insurance Guaranty Association Sued For PIP Benefits
NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey man filed a complaint on Dec. 7 in state court seeking uninsured motorists (UIM) and personal injury protection (PIP) benefits from the New Jersey Property Liability Insurance Guaranty Association (NJPLIGA) (Jose Risco v. De Andrade Filho, et al., No. ESX-L-008659-18, N.J. Super., Essex Co.).
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December 18, 2018
Woman Seeks UM, UIM Benefits From New Jersey Insurance Guaranty Association
NEWARK, N.J. — A woman alleges in a Dec. 5 complaint in a New Jersey trial court that she is entitled to personal injury benefits, medical expense benefits and uninsured (UM) or underinsured (UIM) from the New Jersey Property Liability Insurance Guaranty Association (NJPLIGA) (Minerva Martinez v. Jose Castaing, et al., No. ESX-L-008549-18, N.J. Super., Essex Co.).
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December 18, 2018
New Jersey Appeals Panel Reverses Entry Of Default Judgment Against Insurer
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — In coverage dispute regarding a personal injury settlement that an insolvent insurer was unable to pay, a lower court failed to apply the correct legal standard in its denial of an insurer’s motion to vacate a default judgment of $16,641.79, a New Jersey appeals panel held Dec. 7 (Rosanna Gomez v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co., No. A-4231-16T3, N.J. Super., App. Div., 2018 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 2683).
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December 17, 2018
Special Deputy Receiver Seeks To Bar Actuarial Report Due To Untimeliness
ST. LOUIS — A special deputy receiver and state insurance guaranty associations on Dec. 16 seek to exclude an actuarial report in a Missouri federal court dispute over the mishandling of funds belonging to insolvent funeral insurers because the report was untimely disclosed (Jo Ann Howard & Associates P.C., et al. v. J. Douglas Cassity, et al., No. 09-01252, E.D. Mo.).
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December 13, 2018
Hedge Fund Liquidators Bring Fraud, Conspiracy Claims In Federal Court
NEW YORK — Liquidators for two hedge funds filed a conspiracy and fraud complaint on Nov. 21 in a New York federal court in connection “with one of the most spectacular hedge fund collapses in recent memory” in which funds with an alleged net asset value (NAV) of nearly $1 billion turned out to not only 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.).
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December 12, 2018
Judge Dismisses In Part Run-Off Insurer’s Claims Against Reinsurers, Entities
NEW YORK — In a dispute over the alleged mismanagement and misuse of $320 million, a New York federal judge on Dec. 7 dismissed in part a run-off insurer’s tort and quasi-contract claims against a reinsurer and its entities but allowed the insurer to amend its complaint to assert additional allegations for some of the claims (Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania v. Beechwood Re Ltd., et al., No. 18-6658, S.D. N.Y., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 206536).
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December 12, 2018
Justice Seeks Cause For Not Appointing Referee In Insurer’s Liquidation
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A New York justice on Nov. 21 asked parties to show cause why he should not appoint a referee to hear disputes regarding the claim determinations made in the liquidation proceeding of Touchstone Health HMO Inc. (In the matter of the liquidation of Touchstone Health HMO Inc., No. 54964/2018, N.Y. Sup., Westchester Co.).