Mealey's Reinsurance
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December 30, 2020
Reinsurer: No Issue Preclusion To Filing Of Suits Over Reimbursement Claim
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Mine Subsidence Insurance Fund (IMSIF) in a Dec. 28 brief seeks dismissal of an Illinois federal court lawsuit, arguing that a railroad company fails to allege a claim or issue preclusion regarding lawsuits brought by the IMSIF seeking reimbursement as subrogee for mine subsidence claims the reinsurer paid on behalf of subrogor property owners (Union Pacific Railroad Company v. Illinois Mine Subsidence Insurance Fund, No. 20-3281, C.D. Ill.).
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December 30, 2020
Panel Affirms Unsealing Of Arbitration Award In Reinsurance Billings Case
PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Dec. 24 upheld the unsealing of an arbitration award in a dispute between an insurer and two reinsurers over lead paint losses because the common-law right of access applies to that award, which is part of the judicial record (Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Co. v. New England Reinsurance Corporation, et al., Nos. 20-1635 and 20-1872, 3rd Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 40342).
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December 22, 2020
Judge: Jurisdiction Exists Over Insurer, Reinsurer’s Suit To Enforce Promissory Note
NEW YORK — Following an order to show cause, a New York federal judge on Dec. 15 found that subject matter jurisdiction exists in an insurer and reinsurer’s suit seeking to enforce a promissory note worth more than $4.6 million tied to their reinsurance arrangement for an in-force book of disability income business (Pan-American Life Insurance Company, et al. v. Antarctica Capital Management, LLC, et al., No. 20-9236, S.D. N.Y., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 236514).
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December 16, 2020
Parties Agree On Jury Trial Date For Coverage Case Over $16.8M Settlement
LOS ANGELES — Taking into consideration the uncertainty caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic, a joint powers authority for municipalities, an excess insurer and a reinsurer tell a California federal judge on Dec. 14 that they agreed to a September jury trial set in their dispute over a $16.8 million settlement for an accident between two fire departments (StarStone National Insurance Company v. Independent Cities Risk Management Authority, et al., No. 19-1130, C.D. Calif.).
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December 15, 2020
Judge Denies Insurer’s Bid To Extend Discovery With Reinsurer Due To COVID-19
DETROIT — Despite an insurer’s concerns over the spread of COVID-19 infections and deaths, a Michigan federal judge on Dec. 14 denied extending the discovery deadline in the insurer’s breach of contract dispute against a reinsurer over billings for an insured’s asbestos claims (Amerisure Mutual Insurance Co. v. Transatlantic Reinsurance Co., No. 18-11966, E.D. Mich.).
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December 14, 2020
Woman: Excess Insurer Owes Indemnity To Personal Injury Suit As Notice Was Satisfied
OKLAHOMA CITY — Under applicable Tennessee law, a telecommunications company’s excess insurer and a reinsurer have a duty to indemnify an underlying personal injury lawsuit, a woman argues to an Oklahoma federal court in a Dec. 9 reply brief in further support of her motion for summary judgment in the reinsurer’s declaratory judgment action (Star Insurance Company v. K&J Telecommunications, LLC, et al., No. 19-960, W.D. Okla.).
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December 10, 2020
Insurance Commissioner Seeks Order Of Liquidation For Delaware Insurer
WILMINGTON, Del. — Delaware’s insurance commissioner petitioned the Delaware Court of Chancery on Dec. 9 for an order placing Global Hawk Property and Casualty Insurance Co. into liquidation and naming him the insurer’s receiver (Trinidad Navarro v. Global Hawk Property and Casualty Insurance Company, No. 2020-1044, Del. Chanc.).
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December 10, 2020
2nd Circuit Stays Appeal In Insurer, Reinsurer’s $524M Arbitration Award Dispute
NEW YORK — Citing a recent temporary restraining order in a Bermuda reinsurer’s bankruptcy proceeding, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Dec. 7 stayed the reinsurer’s appeal with regard to confirmation of a $524,009,051.26 arbitration award issued in favor of a Puerto Rico life insurer in a dispute over the alleged improper asset divestments for a reinsurance trust (PB Life and Annuity Co. Ltd. v. Universal Life Insurance Company, No. 20-3122, 2nd Cir.).
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December 09, 2020
Excess Insurers, Reinsurer Settle Dispute Over $11.6M Asbestos Buyout Agreement
SAN FRANCISCO — Two excess insurers and a reinsurer on Dec. 8 agreed in a California federal court stipulation to settle claims and counterclaims in their dispute over the reinsurer’s alleged responsibility toward a more than $11.6 million confidential buyout agreement regarding an insured’s asbestos liabilities (New Hampshire Insurance Company, et al. v. TIG Insurance Company, No. 20-04668, N.D. Calif.).
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December 09, 2020
Willis Re’s Former Employee Seeks Preliminary Injunction Over Nonsolicitation Clause
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — In separate Dec. 7 briefs, a former Willis Re Inc. employee tells a Puerto Rico federal judge to deny the reinsurance brokerage firm’s bid to dismiss a declaratory relief suit over enforcement of an employment agreement’s nonsolicitation clause and, instead, enjoin it from enforcing the clause (Anthony Phillips v. Willis Re Inc., No. 20-1635, D. Puerto Rico).
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December 09, 2020
Insurer’s Liquidators Seek Bankruptcy Court Help In Administration Of Assets
NEW YORK — Joint liquidators for PB Life and Annuity Co. Ltd. (PBLA) on Dec. 3 petitioned for a New York federal bankruptcy court to recognize a Bermuda liquidation proceeding against PBLA as a foreign main proceeding to assist in the administration of hundreds of millions of dollars of assets (In re PB Life and Annuity Co., Ltd., No. 20-12791, S.D. N.Y. Bkcy.).
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December 08, 2020
U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments In Dispute Over Arbitrability
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 8 held telephonic oral arguments on arbitrability disputes in a case between two distributors of dental equipment, first hearing from the attorney representing petitioner Henry Schein Inc. who argued that the arbitration agreements in question delegated arbitrability to an arbitrator but that the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals negated the delegation by deciding the question itself (Henry Schein Inc. v. Archer and White Sales Inc., No. 19-963, U.S. Sup.).
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December 08, 2020
Plaintiffs: Reinsurer Fails To Show Treaty’s Application To Plane Crash Coverage Suit
MIAMI — An English reinsurer cannot cite any authority that a multilateral treaty preempts breach of contract and bad faith claims over insurers’ violations of duties to airlines, individuals who were awarded an $844 million default judgment in connection with a plane crash say in their Dec. 3 reply brief to a Florida federal court in support of remand (Priscila Elen De Souza Lima, et al. v. Linea Aerea Merida Internacional De Aviacion, et al., No. 20-23631, S.D. Fla.).
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December 04, 2020
Excess Insurer, Reinsurer Owe Indemnity For Personal Injury Suit, Insured Argues
OKLAHOMA CITY — A telecommunications company named in a woman’s personal injury suit threw support on Dec. 2 behind the woman’s summary judgment motion in a reinsurer’s Oklahoma federal court coverage dispute because the telecom’s excess insurer and reinsurer have a duty to indemnify (Star Insurance Company v. K&J Telecommunications, LLC, et al., No. 19-960, W.D. Okla.).
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December 03, 2020
Sufficient Allegations Exist Of Accounting Firm’s Role In Ponzi Scheme, Panel Says
NEW YORK — A New York appeals panel on Dec. 1 reversed the dismissal of two insurers’ aiding and abetting fraud lawsuit against KPMG LLP because there are sufficient allegations that the accounting firm had knowledge of a defunct hedge fund’s Ponzi scheme to use a reinsurance company to siphon money from the insurers (Bankers Conseco Life Insurance Company, et al. v. KPMG LLP, No. 2020-02387, N.Y. Sup., App. Div., 1st Dept., 2020 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 7341).
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December 03, 2020
Enstar Seeks Dismissal Of Alter Ego Claim Based On Reinsurance Transaction
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Enstar (US) Inc. (ENUS) sought dismissal on Oct. 16 of an alter ego claim in a widow’s South Carolina federal case against insurers for a $35.58 million asbestos judgment because ENUS’s alleged liability is based on an separate reinsurance transaction with one of the insurers that occurred after the facts had taken place (Ann Finch v. U.S. Fidelity and Guaranty Company, et al., No. 2019-CP-40-03003, S.C. Comm. Pls, Richland Co., 5th Jud. Cir.).
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December 02, 2020
Judge Dismisses Breach Of Contract, Bad Faith Case Against Insurer, Reinsurer
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Following a joint stipulation of dismissal, an Alabama federal judge on Nov. 30 dismissed with prejudice an insured’s breach of contract and bad faith case against his disability life insurer and a reinsurer over the denial of his disability benefits (Horace R. Theriot Jr. v. The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., et al., No. 18-688, M.D. Ala.).
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December 01, 2020
Platinum Partners Former Marketing Employee Dismissed From Securities Fraud Case
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York on Nov. 23 dismissed an indictment against a former Platinum Partners marketing employee over his role in alleged securities fraud schemes to transfer Platinum Partners’ assets to a reinsurance company and related entities to defraud bondholders in an oil and gas company (United States v. Joseph Mann, 16-cr-640, E.D. N.Y.).
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December 01, 2020
Insurer Denies Breach With Reinsurance Broker, Withholding Of $770,000
NEW YORK — An insurer responds in a Nov. 24 answer to Guy Carpenter & Co. LLC’s New York federal court lawsuit, denying that it breached its contract with the reinsurance broker and that it improperly retained $770,000 of brokerage over the broker’s placement of reinsurance (Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC v. Safepoint Insurance Company, No. 20-8063, S.D. N.Y.).
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December 01, 2020
$2.9M Prejudgment Interest Awarded To Excess Insurer In Reinsurance Billings Case
NEW YORK — An excess insurer was awarded prejudgment interest of $2,966,993.31 by a New York federal judge on Nov. 30 after an earlier judgment found a reinsurer is responsible for its part of the insurer’s $35 million asbestos claims settlement (Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company v. OneBeacon Insurance Company, No. 14-4718, S.D. N.Y., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 223292).