Mealey's Reinsurance
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September 4, 2018
Reinsurer, Reinsured Settle Breach Of Contract Dispute For $455,000
CHICAGO — On Aug. 15, a reinsurer and its reinsured agreed to settle for $455,000 a breach of contract case over the release of funds from a claim fund account (Transatlantic Reinsurance Co. v. Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Co., No. 15-CH-5480, Ill. Cir., Cook Co., Chanc. Div.).
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September 4, 2018
Insurer Files Amended Complaint Against Excess Reinsurer, Its Agent
MIAMI — An international health insurer filed an amended complaint in its breach of contract lawsuit on Aug. 31 after an insurance agent for an excess reinsurer was previously dismissed (VIP Universal Medical Insurance Group Ltd. v. BF&M Life Insurance Company Ltd., et al., No. 17-24633, S.D. Fla.).
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September 4, 2018
Insurers Seek $4.46M For Reinsurer’s Failure To Reimburse Asbestos Losses
NEW YORK — In a breach of contract case, insurers accuse their reinsurer in a June 20 complaint filed in a New York trial court of failing to reimburse them $4.46 million for billings related to asbestos losses (National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, PA, et al. v. St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co., No. 653086/2018, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.).
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September 4, 2018
Manufacturer Asks U.S. High Court Not To Address Choice-Of-Law Clause
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a breach of contract dispute over a reinsurance participation agreement (RPA), a blue jean manufacturing company and its subsidiary in an Aug. 22 brief oppose a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether a choice-of-law clause imports “state substantive law without importing state rules impairing arbitration” or whether the clause incorporates “both state substantive law and state arbitration principles” (Applied Underwriters Inc., et al. v. Citizens of Humanity, et al., No. 18-175, U.S. Sup.).
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September 4, 2018
Judge Issues New Case Schedule In Dispute Over Reinsurance Agreement
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In two putative class actions regarding a reinsurance participation agreement (RPA), a California federal judge approved a new scheduling order on Aug. 31 (Shasta Linen Supply Inc. v. Applied Underwriters Inc., et al., Nos. 16-00158 & 16-01211, E.D. Calif.).
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August 31, 2018
Insurer Seeks Umpire Appointment In Arbitration Dispute With Reinsurer
NEW YORK — An insurer on July 12 asked a New York court to appoint an umpire in its arbitration dispute with its reinsurer over asbestos-related losses because they and their appointed arbitrators have not been able to do so (National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pa. v. Employers Insurance Company of Wausau, No. 653512/2018, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.).
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August 29, 2018
Judge Upholds Denial Of Additional Indemnity Payments Under Reinsured Crop Policy
RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina federal judge on Aug. 27 found no error with an administrative judge’s conclusions regarding plant disease and causation in support of declining additional indemnity payments under a federally reinsured crop insurance policy (J.O.C. Farms LLC v. Sonny Perdue, et al., No. 16-288, E.D. N.C., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 144875).
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August 28, 2018
Blue Jean Manufacturer To U.S. High Court: Review Must Be Denied In RPA Suit
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A blue jean manufacturing company and its subsidiary in an Aug. 21 opposition tell the U.S. Supreme Court that review should be denied of a Nebraska Supreme Court’s ruling on the application of a choice-of-law clause in a case over a reinsurance participation agreement (RPA) because it “is an exceedingly poor vehicle for certiorari” (Applied Underwriters Captive Risk Assurance Company Inc. v. Citizens of Humanity, et al., No. 18-174, U.S. Sup.).
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August 28, 2018
U.S. High Court Asked Choice-Of-Law Clause Question In RPA Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a breach of contract dispute over a reinsurance participation agreement (RPA), parties in an Aug. 6 petition ask the U.S. Supreme Court whether a choice-of-law clause imports “state substantive law without importing state rules impairing arbitration” or whether the clause incorporates “both state substantive law and state arbitration principles” (Applied Underwriters Inc., et al. v. Citizens of Humanity, et al., No. 18-175, U.S. Sup.).
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August 28, 2018
Arbitration Award Under Federally Reinsured Crop Policies Vacated In Part
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — To the extent necessary to determine and apply proper procedure when a production worksheet is not done and appraisal worksheets are incomplete, a South Dakota federal judge on Aug. 21 vacated in part an arbitrator’s award regarding the denial of benefits under a federally reinsured multiple-peril crop insurance policy (Terry R. Balvin v. Rain and Hail LLC, No. 18-4049, D. S.D., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141354).
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August 17, 2018
Insurer’s Liquidator Says Depositions Scheduled In Reinsurance Lawsuit
NEW YORK — The liquidator for Home Insurance Co. in an Aug. 8 letter to a New York federal judge says that depositions are set to begin in a dispute over reinsurance proceeds allegedly owed to the insolvent insurer under three facultative reinsurance certificates (Roger A. Sevigny v. Trygvesta Forsikring A/S, Trygvesta Forsikring A/S v. Cerberus Holding Company LLC, No. 16-04874, S.D. N.Y.).
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August 16, 2018
Reinsurer Asks Federal Court For Confirmation Of Arbitration Award
NEW YORK — A reinsurer on Aug. 14 sought confirmation by a New York federal court of an arbitration award in a dispute over denied billings in a retrocessional reinsurance relationship (Continental Insurance Co. v. AXA Versicherung AG, No. 18-7349, S.D. N.Y.).
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August 16, 2018
Parties Seek To Dismiss Claims Over Asset Depletion With Poor Reinsuring Risks
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Life insurers, a bank and a financial services firm on Aug. 8 moved for dismissal of claims filed in a total value annuity investor’s Kansas federal court lawsuit alleging that the defendants depleted the life insurers’ surplus assets by reinsuring their risks with one another rather than using “arm’s-length reinsurance treaties” (Albert Ogles v. Security Benefit Life Insurance Co., et al., No. 18-02265, D. Kan.).
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August 16, 2018
Judge Denies New Trial On Contract, Bad Faith Claims Against Insurer
LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge on Aug. 1 denied a life insurer’s request for a new trial or judgment as a matter of law on breach of contract and bad faith claims and denied its motion to strike a reinsurance underwriter’s testimony (DCD Partners LLC, et al. v. Transamerica Life Insurance Co., et al., No. 15-03238, C.D. Calif., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 135792).
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August 14, 2018
Reinsurer, Insurer Respond To Issues For Summary Judgment In Asbestos Case
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Response letters were filed Aug. 10 by a reinsurer and an insurer to a New York federal court regarding issues such as follow-the-fortunes doctrine and res judicata that they plan to raise in their summary judgment motions in an asbestos coverage dispute (Utica Mutual Insurance Co. v. R&Q Reinsurance Co., No. 15-270, N.D. N.Y.).
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August 13, 2018
Reinsurer, Insurer Agree To Dismiss $1.25M Breach Of Contract Dispute
HARTFORD, Conn. — A reinsurer and insurer on Aug. 9 agreed to dismiss, with prejudice and without costs to either party, a $1.25 million breach of contract dispute in a Connecticut federal court over settlement of underlying asbestos claims (Travelers Casualty and Surety Co. v. Allstate Insurance Co., No. 17-02144, D. Conn.).
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August 13, 2018
Judge Enters Judgment To Government In Reinsured Student Loan Default Case
MIAMI — A Florida federal judge granted summary judgment to the U.S. government on Aug. 9 regarding its recovery of a federally reinsured student loan that had been defaulted (United States of America v. Alvino Blanco, No. 16-14472, S.D. Fla., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 135413).
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August 13, 2018
Reinsurer Seeks Dismissal From Contract, Fraud Suit Over Disability Benefits
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — In a case over the denial of benefits under four long-term disability insurance policies, a reinsurer argues in an Aug. 1 motion that an Alabama federal court should dismiss breach of contract, bad faith and fraud claims because it is not a party to the policies (Horace R. Theriot Jr. v. The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., et al., No. 18-00688, M.D. Ala.).
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August 10, 2018
Insurance Services Provider Answers Agency’s Breach Of Contract Counterclaim
TULSA, Okla. — In an Oklahoma federal court lawsuit alleging disparagement through false and misleading representation of reinsurance problems, a distributor of self-insurance products filed an answer on Aug. 2 to an insurance agency’s counterclaims for breach of contract and tortious interference with prospective economic advantage (The Sandner Group – Alternative Risk Solutions Inc. v. BancFirst Insurance Services Inc., et al., No. 18-0265, N.D. Okla.).
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August 10, 2018
Pennsylvania High Court Denies Appeal In Reinsurance Liability Cap Dispute
HARRISBURG, Pa. — In a one-page per curiam order, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Aug. 7 denied an appeal of a lower court’s ruling affirming that reinsurance facultative certificates covered defense expenses in excess of a liability cap and that insurers were entitled to interest on certain proofs of loss for asbestos claims issued before 2013 (Century Indemnity Co., et al v. OneBeacon Insurance Co., No. 45 EAL 2018, Pa. Sup., 2018 Pa. LEXIS 4075).