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Mealey's Insurance Insolvency

  • March 27, 2020

    Insured Seeks Rehearing In Attorney Fees Dispute With FIGA For Sinkhole Testing

    LAKELAND, Fla. — An insured asks a Florida appeals court in a March 23 motion to rehear her dispute over attorney fees related to her sinkhole claim with the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA), substituting for an insolvent insurer, because the court misapprehended a 2016 decision by the Florida Supreme Court (Phylis Heid v. Florida Insurance Guaranty Association, No. 2D18-737, Fla. App., 2nd Dist.).

  • March 27, 2020

    Panel Reverses Attorney Fees Award Against FIGA In Sinkhole Claim Dispute

    LAKELAND, Fla. — Citing a recent decision, a Florida appeals panel on March 25 reversed an attorney fees award in favor of insureds and against Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) in a sinkhole claim dispute involving an insolvent insurer (Florida Insurance Guaranty Association v. Jose Valdez, et al., No. 2D18-3789, Fla. App., 2nd Dist., 2020 Fla. App. LEXIS 3844).

  • March 25, 2020

    Home Insurance Company’s Liquidator Files Report, Recommendations Over Claims

    CONCORD, N.H. — The liquidator of The Home Insurance Co. on March 12 filed a report of claims and recommendation on their determinations or redeterminations to a New Hampshire trial court regarding claims in the insurer’s liquidation (In the matter of the liquidation of The Home Insurance Co., No. 217-2003-EQ-00106, N.H. Super., Merrimack Co.).

  • March 25, 2020

    Panel Denies Review Of Board’s Workers’ Comp Award In Favor Of CIGA

    SANTA ANA, Calif. — Finding no reasonable basis for review, a California appellate panel on March 5 denied a petition for writ of review of the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board’s findings and award concerning a workers’ compensation insurance dispute between an insurer and the California Insurance Guarantee Association (CIGA) (Hartford Underwriters Insurance Co. v. Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, et al., No. G058788, Calif. App., 4th Dist., Div. 3, 2020 CA APP. CT. BRIEFS LEXIS 530).

  • March 25, 2020

    Objection To Insolvent Insurer’s Subpoena Of Accounts Is Overruled

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida federal bankruptcy judge on March 17 overruled an objection to a subpoena of bank accounts because the information sought relates only to an insolvent insurer’s fraudulent transfer claims that had been dismissed (In re:  British American Insurance Company Ltd., Chapter 15, Nos. 09-31881 and 09-35888, British American Insurance Company Ltd. v. Robert Fullerton, et al., No. 11-03118, S.D. Fla. Bkcy.).

  • March 25, 2020

    Plaintiff: Appeal In Case Over Insurer’s Liquidation Handling Is Frivolous

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A former employee of an insolvent insurer asks a federal judge in Puerto Rico in a March 24 motion to certify as frivolous an interlocutory appeal brought by Puerto Rico’s insurance commissioner and an auxiliary rehabilitator regarding the denial of their qualified immunity defense over a freedom of expression claim and to retain jurisdiction over the case (Iván Colón Pérez, et al. v. Javier Rivera Ríos, et al., No. 19-1775, D. Puerto Rico).

  • March 25, 2020

    Panel Dismisses Appeal In UIM Coverage Dispute Over Personal Injuries

    NEW ORLEANS — Finding no valid final appealable judgment, a Louisiana appeals panel on Feb. 19 dismissed an insurer’s appeal in a personal injury suit involving the Texas Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association (TPCIA) and another insurer (Mary Reaney-Gates, et al. v. Teodoro Rivera Mendoza, et al., No. 2019-CA-0912, La. App., 4th Cir., 2020 La. App. LEXIS 301).

  • March 24, 2020

    Nevada High Court: Insolvent Insurer’s Directors Are Not Liable For Negligence

    LAS VEGAS — Directors of an insolvent Nevada risk retention group are not liable for breach of fiduciary and gross negligence claims brought by the state’s insurance commissioner, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled Feb. 27, vacating a trial court’s prior order and granting judgment on the pleadings to the directors (Robert Chur, et al. v. The Eighth Judicial District Court of the State of Nevada, in and for the County of Clark, et al., No. 78301, Nev. Sup., 2020 Nev. LEXIS 6).

  • March 24, 2020

    Judge Adopts Report On RICO, State Law Claims Filed By Insurer’s Receiver

    SPARTANBURG, S.C. — A federal judge in South Carolina on March 5 adopted a report and recommendation granting in part but largely denying summary judgment on claims brought by a special deputy receiver alleging that two individuals conspired to defraud South Carolina Health Cooperative Inc. (SCHC) with fraudulent letters of credit (LOCs) (Michael J. FitzGibbons, et al. v. Alton Atkinson, et al., No. 17-02092, D. S.C.).

  • March 24, 2020

    Insurer In Rehabilitation: No Evidence Of Fraud In Securing Loan Transactions

    NEW YORK — The receiver of a hedge fund failed to offer evidence in support of fraudulent conveyance and unjust enrichment claims regarding the securing of three investment management agreements (IMAs), Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania (SHIP) argues in an March 6 opposition brief  to a New York federal court (In re Platinum-Beechwood Litigation, No. 18-6658, Melanie L. Cyganowski, et al. v. Beechwood Re Ltd., et al., No. 18-12018, S.D. N.Y.).

  • March 18, 2020

    Financial Advisers:  No Support For Insurer’s Aiding, Abetting Claims

    NEW YORK — Two financial advisers tell a New York federal court in a March 17 reply brief that Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania (SHIP) failed to establish and discovery has not shown that an alleged fraud scheme overvaluing a reinsurer’s investments was aided and abetted by them (In re Platinum-Beechwood Litigation, No. 18-6658, Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania v. Lincoln International LLC, et al., No. 19-07137, S.D. N.Y.).

  • March 17, 2020

    Insurer’s Liquidator Rejects Constitutional Arguments As Reasons To Oppose Dismissal

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Counterarguments of constitutional issues of federal jurisdiction and abstention as reasons to deny dismissal of an insured’s counterclaim against an insolvent insurer “are completely irrelevant to the legal issues,” the insurer’s liquidator tells a Puerto Rico federal court in a March 13 brief seeking dismissal of the insured’s counterclaim and voluntary dismissal of his lawsuit (Integrand Assurance Co. v. Puma Energy Caribe, LLC, No. 19-1195, D. Puerto Rico).

  • March 13, 2020

    Hedge Fund Liquidators: Yearlong Discovery Supports Aiding, Abetting Allegations

    NEW YORK — Following a year of discovery with more than 50 depositions, the liquidators of two hedge funds argue in a March 11 brief that it is clear that their core claims for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and aiding and abetting against defendants for their role in “one of the most spectacular hedge fund collapses” are correct and, thus, a New York federal court should deny nine motions for summary judgment (In re Platinum-Beechwood Litigation, No. 18-6658, Martin Trott, et al. v. Platinum Management [NY] LLC, et al., No. 18-10936, S.D. N.Y.).

  • March 11, 2020

    Insurers Appeal To 11th Circuit Arbitration Order In Reinsurance Dispute

    ATLANTA — Insurers on March 9 gave notice that they are appealing to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a decision compelling them to arbitrate a claim against a reinsurer for alleged bad faith refusal to pay their reinsurance claim regarding a construction defects case settlement (Builders Insurance, et al. v. Maiden Reinsurance North America, Inc., No. 19-02762, N.D. Ga.).

  • March 11, 2020

    Panel: Insured Is Not Owed Attorney Fees From FIGA For Sinkhole Loss Testing

    LAKELAND, Fla. — An insured is not entitled to attorney fees and costs connected to testing for sinkhole loss in her lawsuit with the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA), substituting for an insolvent insurer, a Florida appeals panel ruled March 6, noting that a trial court misconstrued the panel’s previous ruling in a similar case (Phylis Heid v. Florida Insurance Guaranty Association, No. 2D18-737, Fla. App., 2nd Dist., 2020 Fla. App. LEXIS 2858).

  • February 26, 2020

    New York Justice Places Maidstone Insurance Company Into Liquidation

    MINEOLA, N.Y. — A New York justice ordered Maidstone Insurance Co. into liquidation on Feb. 19 and appointed the state’s financial services superintendent as liquidator (In the matter of the application of Maidstone Insurance Co., No. 600620/2020, N.Y. Sup., Nassau Co.).

  • February 25, 2020

    Insurer’s Trustee: Claim Ruling Over Tax Obligations To IRS Should Be Upheld

    WILMINGTON, Del. — In a Feb. 14 appellee brief, the Chapter 7 trustee for an insurer and its subsidiaries asks a Delaware federal court to affirm a bankruptcy court’s order granting his objection to the Internal Revenue Service’s claim seeking administrative priority for tax obligations arising in the year of a bankruptcy filing (In re Affirmative Insurance Holdings, Inc., et al., No. 15-12136; [United States of America v. Don A. Beskrone, Chapter 7 Trustee], 19-2034, D. Del.).

  • February 25, 2020

    Financial Advisers Seek Judgment On Insurer’s Aiding, Abetting Claims

    NEW YORK — In a dispute over the investment of $320 million in a failed Ponzi scheme, two financial advisers argue in a Feb. 14 motion to a New York federal court that there is no evidence that they substantially assisted a fraud or breach of fiduciary duty by issuing two valuation reports and, thus, they are entitled to summary judgment on aiding and abetting claims brought by an insurer in rehabilitation (In re Platinum-Beechwood Litigation, No. 18-6658, Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania v. Lincoln International LLC, et al., No. 19-07137, S.D. N.Y.).

  • February 24, 2020

    Federal Judge Awards Over $7.1M In Costs, Fees To Insurers’ Receiver

    ST. LOUIS — A federal judge in Missouri on Feb. 21 awarded costs of $139,164.73 and attorney fees of $7,005,337 to an insolvent funeral insurers’ receiver and state insurance guaranty associations in their dispute against two banks regarding allegations over the mishandling of the insurers’ funds (Jo Ann Howard & Associates P.C., et al. v. J. Douglas Cassity, et al., No. 09-01252, E.D. Mo., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29932).

  • February 21, 2020

    Magistrate Recommends Judgment For Insurer In Premium Costs Increase Case

    DALLAS — A Texas federal magistrate judge on Feb. 18 recommended that an insurer be granted summary judgment on an insured’s declaratory relief claim over an increase in premium costs because the insured was given sufficient notice of the insurer’s assumption reinsurance agreement and another insurer’s rehabilitation plan (Don B. Chae v. American Fidelity Assurance Co., No. 19-157, N.D. Texas).