Mealey's Reinsurance
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April 06, 2023
Plaintiffs Drop Negligence, UCL Suit Against Marketer Over Alleged Scheme
SAN DIEGO — Saying the defendant didn’t file an answer or a motion for summary judgment, the plaintiffs in a putative class suit alleging that they were sold counterfeited and nonexistent PregnancyCare insurance policies under “supposed captive reinsurance programs” filed a notice of voluntary dismissal without prejudice in California federal court.
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April 06, 2023
Parties Dispute Reconsideration Of Ruling On Alleged Damages Paid By Reinsurers
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Arguing that an Illinois federal court made two errors in a suit over alleged legal malpractice, an insurer moved for reconsideration of a partial summary judgment ruling that it cannot recover alleged damages paid by its reinsurers; the defendants said in opposition that the insurer “tries to manufacture an untimely procedural defense based upon an inapplicable procedural rule and inapplicable case law.”
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April 05, 2023
Reinsurer In Asbestos Coverage Liabilities Row Notifies Court Of Liquidation Order
OMAHA, Neb. — Parties in a federal suit in Nebraska against reinsurers over the $157.2 million settlement that National Indemnity Co. (NICO) reached with Montana regarding alleged asbestos exposures have notified the court of developments in two other proceedings, including an order of liquidation entered against a defendant.
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April 05, 2023
Ruling Lets Federal Crop Insurance Exclusions Over Delinquent Debt Stand
INDIANAPOLIS — Affirming a final determination that upheld exclusion of four farms from the federal crop insurance program, an Indiana federal judge said that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Appeals Division (NAD) “acted in accordance with the law.”
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April 05, 2023
Class Settlement Of Up To $117.7M Proposed In Life Insurance Cost Increase Suits
PHILADELPHIA — Plaintiffs challenging cost of insurance (COI) increases on universal life insurance policies have asked a Pennsylvania federal court to consolidate two cases for settlement, preliminarily certify a settlement class and preliminarily approve a settlement that includes a fund of up to $117.75 million and a five-year COI rate increase freeze.
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April 04, 2023
Judge Finds No Personal Jurisdiction In Reinsurer’s Suit Over Asbestos Settlement
CONCORD, N.H. — Ruling that the court lacked personal jurisdiction in a reinsurer’s declaratory judgment suit against National Indemnity Co. (NICO) regarding a settlement with the state of Montana over alleged asbestos exposures, a New Hampshire federal judge granted dismissal and said she found no evidence that the “asserted claim meaningfully implicates any of NICO’s contacts with New Hampshire.”
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April 04, 2023
Plea Agreement With 1 Defendant Filed In Alleged Bribery Case Involving Reinsurance
MIAMI — Under a plea agreement with the U.S. government filed in Florida federal court, one defendant facing criminal charges for an alleged scheme involving “at least approximately $2,796,783” in bribes to officials of insurance companies that Ecuador owns and controls pleaded guilty to four counts of engaging in transactions in criminally derived property.
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April 03, 2023
Reinsurer’s Receiver Is Still Assessing Mortality Info Impact On Rehab Proposal
WILMINGTON, Del. — Assessing the impact of higher-than-expected mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other causes on a proposed rehabilitation plan is expected to take an additional 14 days, the receiver for Scottish Re (U.S.) Inc. in Rehabilitation (SRUS) tells the Delaware Court of Chancery in a March 31 letter.
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March 24, 2023
Insurers Cite Ohio Law In Summary Judgment Bids On Bad Faith Claim Over Settlement
CINCINNATI — In separate March 23 motions in Ohio federal court, two defendants in litigation over the settlement of a third-party personal injury lawsuit argue that Ohio law requires summary judgment in their favor on a bad faith claim.
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March 23, 2023
Texas Supreme Court Won’t Rehear Petition Arguing Direct Benefits Estoppel
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court has denied a motion for rehearing in which a reinsurer argued that the court’s “decision in another direct-benefits estoppel case” means it should reconsider denying the reinsurer’s bid for review.
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March 22, 2023
9th Circuit Will Not Rehear RESPA Class Decertification Denial Appeal
SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel declined to rehear its ruling reversing and remanding to federal district court a district court’s ruling denying a motion for class decertification in a long-running Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) class action involving captive reinsurance agreements to federal district court.
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March 21, 2023
Citing Wadsworth, Insurer Seeks Reconsideration Of Ruling On Reinsurers’ Damages
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Arguing that an Illinois federal court made two errors in a suit over alleged legal malpractice, an insurer moved for reconsideration of a partial summary judgment ruling that dismissed damages reimbursed by its reinsurers.
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March 20, 2023
Arbitration Ordered In Power Plant Dispute Under Third-Party Beneficiary Doctrine
ATLANTA — Applying the third-party beneficiary doctrine, a Georgia federal judge on March 17 ordered arbitration of a dispute in which reinsurers and retrocessionaires as subrogees of the owner of an Algerian power plant seek no less than $28 million in damages against General Electric International Inc. (GE International) and related entities in relation to an October 2019 incident.
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March 16, 2023
Farmer Loses Bid For TRO In Case Challenging Suspension From Government Programs
FARGO, N.D. — Concluding that the plaintiffs “have not met the requirements for the extraordinary remedy,” a North Dakota federal magistrate judge on March 15 denied a bid for a temporary restraining order (TRO) under which a farmer could keep participating in a federally reinsured multiperil crop insurance (MCPI) program.
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March 16, 2023
Liquidators’ Motion For Enforcement Of Stay Opposed In Federal Bankruptcy Court
NEW YORK — Arguing in part that judicial estoppel and the law of the case doctrine require denial, insurers filed opposition in New York federal bankruptcy court to a motion in which the joint provisional liquidators (JPLs) of Bermuda insurer and reinsurer PB Life and Annuity Co. Ltd. (PBLA) and other debtors seek enforcement of a stay.
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March 15, 2023
Positions Outlined In Insurance Coverage Row Over Jet Leased To Russian Operator
SAN FRANCISCO — In a joint filing in California state court, parties in an international aviation insurance coverage dispute involving Russia’s invasion of Ukraine outline their positions, including disagreements on the scope of expected discovery.
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March 15, 2023
Class Motions On Takings Claim In ACA Reinsurance Row Stayed For Summary Judgment
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Pending resolution of a motion for partial summary judgment, a U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge has stayed two motions related to class certification of a takings claim in a case concerning the Transitional Reinsurance Program (TRP) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).
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March 14, 2023
Amendment, Dismissal For Failure To Prosecute Both Denied In Fraud Suit
WILMINGTON, Del. — In a case concerning an alleged scheme to transfer funds from a reinsurance trust to affiliated entities and “highly volatile hedge funds,” a Delaware Chancery Court vice chancellor on March 13 denied both the plaintiffs’ motion to file a fourth amended complaint and defendants’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit for failure to prosecute.
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March 14, 2023
CVS’s Dismissal Motion Denied In FCA Claim Over Medicare ‘Anti-Competitive Scheme’
PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge denied in part CVS and its related entities’ motion to dismiss a qui tam suit against them asserting that they “engaged in an anti-competitive scheme to block Medicare Part D recipients from accessing less expensive drugs” in violation of the False Claims Act (FCA), finding that the complaint suffices to show “the existence of an agreement to violate the FCA.”
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March 13, 2023
Settlement Reported In Reinsurance Broker’s Suit Over ‘Coordinated Raid’
Related suits in Texas and New York federal courts over what reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter & Company LLC alleged was a “coordinated raid” that created “a mirror image business” have been resolved via a confidential settlement agreement, the parties say in joint notices also seeking temporary stays.
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March 13, 2023
Bifurcating Bad Faith Claims In Coverage Row Disputed In Kentucky Federal Court
PADUCAH, Ky. — Opposing a bid to bifurcate and stay bad faith claims in a coverage dispute involving a reinsurer, the plaintiff argues in a March 10 filing that those claims are “inextricably intertwined” with breach of contract claims and that the Kentucky federal court denied similar motions in three cases.
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March 13, 2023
Rehabilitator Counterclaims In Independent Auditor’s Declaratory Judgment Action
MINNEAPOLIS — In an outside auditor’s Minnesota federal case seeking declaratory judgment “to clear the cloud of threatened litigation” and denying that it caused or contributed to a run-off insurer’s statutory rehabilitation, the rehabilitator has asserted counterclaims for professional negligence/accounting malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract.
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March 10, 2023
Recommendation In Microcaptive Probe Case Modified At Parties’ Request, Adopted
TAMPA, Fla. — Pursuant to a joint motion by the parties, a Florida federal judge made modifications in adopting a recommendation that a petition for enforcement of an Internal Revenue Service summons be mostly granted and an insurance consultancy’s motion to limit the summons be mostly denied.
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March 08, 2023
Direct Benefits Estoppel Disputed In Texas Appeal Involving Reinsurance
TYLER, Texas — A direct benefits estoppel case in Texas appellate court focuses on whether a school district can be compelled to arbitrate under a reinsurance contract to which it is not a party, with the reinsurer arguing that the district’s “claims arise out of or relate to the” contract and the district contending that rulings against the reinsurer in two “carbon-copy” cases are correct and preclusive.
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March 08, 2023
Arbitrator Replacement Bid In Reinsurance Row Is Removed To Federal Court
NEW YORK — A lawsuit seeking replacement of an arbitrator in a proceeding concerning two reinsurance contracts between Bermuda-based entities has been removed to a federal court in New York.