Mealey's Reinsurance
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March 15, 2021
6th Circuit Hears Oral Arguments In Asbestos, Reinsurance Dispute
CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 3 heard oral arguments via video of an appeal in an asbestos coverage dispute in which an insurer argued that reversal of a district court’s denial of the insurer’s motion to dismiss the insured’s breach of contract and bad faith suit is warranted based on claim preclusion.
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March 15, 2021
Parties Settle Suit Alleging Reinsurance Transactions Caused Policy Increases
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — An Iowa federal judge on March 12 entered an order of settlement in a suit filed by a trustee for an irrevocable trust who claims that a life insurer substantially increased its costs on universal life insurance policies and imposed monthly deduction rate increases to recover prior losses from reinsurance transactions after the parties notified the court that they reached a settlement.
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March 10, 2021
Insolvent Insurers: Government Reverse-Preempted From Seeking Setoffs Of Debts
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A dispute subclass of insolvent insurers on Feb. 26 reiterated their argument asking the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to dismiss the U.S. government’s counterclaims for setoff, breach of statutory and regulatory duties, arguing that the government is reverse-preempted under the McCarran-Ferguson Act from seeking setoffs of debts against risk-corridor liabilities owed to the insurers under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) risk corridor.
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March 04, 2021
Joint Risk Pool Association Dismisses Excess Insurer From Reinsurance Coverage Suit
MISSOULA, Mont. — A joint risk pool association on Feb. 24 dismissed its claim against an excess insurer after an arbitration was scheduled to address the association’s breach of contract dispute with a group of underwriters subscribing to a reinsurance agreement with regard to their failure to indemnify settlements of two underlying wrongful imprisonment lawsuits.
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March 04, 2021
Pretrial Conference Scheduled In Mortgagors’ Suit Against Insurers, Reinsurer
FRESNO, Calif. — A California federal judge on Feb. 9 issued a tentative pretrial order scheduling a pretrial conference for April 27 and outlining the disputed issues of facts in a suit filed by a class of mortgagors who allege that private mortgage insurers and a captive reinsurer violated anti-kickback provisions of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA).
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March 03, 2021
Insurer Alerts 6th Circuit To Legal Authority In Asbestos, Reinsurance Suit
CINCINNATI — An insurer involved in a coverage dispute over asbestos liabilities on March 2 filed a letter in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to alert the court to a legal authority the insurer says is applicable to its argument addressing the elements for claim preclusion under Ohio law.
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March 03, 2021
Payroll Services Company Says Claim In ERISA, Reinsurance Suit Must Be Dismissed
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A third-party claim filed by a self-insured employee benefit plan’s third-party administrators against a payroll services company must be dismissed because the administrators failed to show that the payroll services company served as a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the payroll services company asserts in a Feb. 19 motion to dismiss.
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March 03, 2021
Federal Judge Orders Personal Injury, Reinsurance Suit To Be Administratively Closed
OKLAHOMA CITY — Following settlement talks and a possible compromise in a suit filed by a reinsurer seeking a declaration that it has no duty to indemnify a telecommunications company, an Oklahoma federal judge on Feb. 10 administratively closed the suit without prejudice to the parties to reopen the suit for good cause.
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March 02, 2021
Railroad Company Urges Illinois Court To Deny Reinsurer’s Motion To Dismiss
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A railroad company seeking injunctive relief over reinsurer Illinois Mine Subsidence Insurance Fund’s (IMSIF) pursuit of reimbursement as subrogee for mine subsidence claims says in its Feb. 26 response to IMSIF’s motion to dismiss that its amended complaint adequately states claims in support of its requests for a declaration on the merits and an injunction against further suits.
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March 02, 2021
Discovery Disputes Must Be Resolved In Same District As Reinsurance Arbitration
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Michigan federal judge on Feb. 17 denied a motion to quash a subpoena filed by a third-party administrator for employee welfare benefit plans because any discovery disputes must be resolved in the district where the arbitrators of the reinsurance dispute are located and because the third-party administrator was not a party to the reinsurer’s suit.
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March 02, 2021
Reinsurer Says Claims In Proposed Amended Complaint Are Not Ripe
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A nonprofit municipal insurer’s motion for leave to file an amended complaint should be denied because the insurer’s proposed new claims are not ripe as they are based on a billing that is still under review, the reinsurer contends in its Feb. 19 response to the court’s order to show cause.
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March 01, 2021
Amended Complaint Asserts Reinsurance Trust’s Escrow Agent Breached Fiduciary Duty
NEW YORK — An insurer and reinsurer on Feb. 24 filed a second amended complaint in New York federal court, alleging claims for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty against a reinsurance trust’s escrow agent in a suit seeking to enforce a promissory note worth more than $4.6 million tied to a reinsurance arrangement for an in-force book of disability income business.
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February 25, 2021
Judge Denies Insurers’ Motion To Dismiss In Excess Collateral Reinsurance Dispute
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota federal judge on Feb. 23 denied a motion to dismiss filed by insurers in an interpleader suit over excess collateral in an insurance-reinsurance program after determining that the insurers failed to meet their burden of showing that the parties have an agreement to arbitrate and that the cross-claims for indemnification fall within the scope of the arbitration agreement.
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February 18, 2021
Agent Maintains That ‘Claw Back’ Payments Were Amended In Reinsurance Agreements
FORT WORTH, Texas — An insurance agent reiterates in a Feb. 11 reply in support of its motion for summary judgment filed in Texas federal court that amendments to quota share reinsurance agreements regarding “claw back” premium payments removed the agent’s future obligations under the agreements.
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February 18, 2021
Reinsurer Not Permitted To Remove Plane Crash Coverage Suit, Judge Says
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A Florida federal judge on Feb. 1 remanded a breach of contract and bad faith suit filed by individuals who are seeking to collect an $844 million judgment obtained against an airline whose plane crashed while transporting a Brazilian soccer team after determining that the English reinsurer for the flight cannot remove the suit as a third-party defendant pursuant to precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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February 18, 2021
Insurers Seek To Stay Discovery In Excess Collateral Reinsurance Dispute
MINNEAPOLIS — In an interpleader suit over excess collateral in an insurance-reinsurance program, insurers ask a Minnesota federal court in a Feb. 3 memorandum of law to stay discovery on breach of contract cross-claims until the federal court rules on the insurers’ motion to dismiss.
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February 18, 2021
Reinsurer Must Show Cause As To Why Amended Complaint Should Not Be Permitted
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — An Alabama federal judge on Feb. 11 ordered a reinsurer to show cause as to why a nonprofit municipality insurer’s motion for leave to file an amended complaint, which seeks coverage for a number claims submitted by Alabama towns, should not be granted.
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February 18, 2021
Borrower, Agent Defend Dismissal Of $14.5M Suit Filed By Insurers In Rehabilitation
RALEIGH, N.C. — A borrower and its agent filed separate replies in a North Carolina federal court on Jan. 4 defending their 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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February 17, 2021
Insurer Says Insured Failed To Provide Timely Notice Of Environmental Claim
NEWARK, N.J. — In a Feb. 1 answer to an industrial equipment supplier’s complaint alleging that an insurer breached its contract by refusing to pay for an environmental investigation and remediation at an insured property, the insurer claims that the insured’s claims against it may be barred based on the insured’s failure to provide timely notice of an occurrence under the policy.
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February 17, 2021
Ceding Insurers Dismiss Suit Seeking Relief Under Reinsurance Agreements
SAN FRANCISCO — Ceding insurers that filed a suit in California federal court seeking a declaration that a loss portfolio transfer does not cancel or affect their rights under reinsurance agreements on Feb. 1 notified the court that they were voluntarily dismissing their suit.