Mealey's Insurance Insolvency : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Insurance Insolvency

January 08, 2025
Pennsylvania Appellate Judge Discharges Insurance Commissioner As Liquidator

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Without providing explanation, a Pennsylvania appellate court judge issued an order discharging the Pennsylvania insurance commissioner as the statutory liquidator of Penn Treaty Network America Insurance Co.
January 07, 2025
Magnate Files Answer In $1B Insurance Fraud Case, Says No RICO Enterprise Found

RALEIGH, N.C. — Insurance magnate Greg Lindberg and his co-defendant asset management companies filed their answer to an amended complaint in a North Carolina federal court in a suit accusing them and other parties of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) violations related to their purported participation in a $1 billion scheme to defraud now-insolvent insurers once owned by Lindberg.
January 06, 2025
Judgment Granted For Insurers In Dispute Over MDL Opioid Liability Coverage

NEW CASTLE, Del. — A Delaware state court judge granted summary judgment for insurers in their declaratory judgment action seeking a judgment that they have no duty to indemnify or defend insured AmerisourceBergen, a distributor of prescription opioids, in multidistrict litigation, finding that because the suits seeking to recover economic losses do not seek damages related to bodily injury, the insurers have no duty to defend or indemnify under the policies.
January 06, 2025
Citing Wildfire Risks, California Issues Net Cost Of Reinsurance Regulation

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Department of Insurance has issued a Net Cost of Reinsurance (NCOR) in Ratemaking Regulationthat Commissioner Ricardo Lara says was prompted by insurers pulling back from the state’s property insurance market in light of the growing risk of wildfires.
January 03, 2025
Settlement, Recapture Proposed Involving Reinsurer That Is In Liquidation

WILMINGTON, Del. — The Delaware Chancery Court has been asked to approve a deal involving settlement and recapture agreements under which stock reinsurance company Scottish Re (U.S.) Inc. (SRUS), which is in liquidation, would receive a recapture payment of $86,210,609.56.
January 02, 2025
Intervention Sought Over Setoff Rights In Connecticut Rehabilitation Proceeding

HARTFORD, Conn. — Policy owners’ setoff rights are the focus of an intervention motion that three investment managers filed in Connecticut state court regarding the rehabilitation of life insurer PHL Variable Insurance Co. and the subsidiaries that reinsure its liabilities.
January 02, 2025
North Carolina Panel Affirms Judgment For Insurer In Hurricane Coverage Dispute

RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling granting summary judgment in favor of a now-insolvent insurer in a dispute over coverage for purported damage caused by Hurricane Florence, finding that the lower court correctly held the insured was barred from filing suit under the insurance contract because he failed to submit for an insurer-requested examination under oath (EUO), a condition precedent under the policy.
December 20, 2024
3rd Circuit Reverses, Deems Joint Underwriting Association A Public Entity

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed in part and affirmed in part a district court’s ruling that issued an injunction preventing enforcement of certain legislative changes to the state-created Pennsylvania Professional Liability Joint Underwriting Association (JUA), which provides coverage to health care providers, including those previously insured by insurers in liquidation, finding that the JUA is a public entity rather than a private one due to the state’s “legally protectable interest in the JUA.”
December 18, 2024
2 Investors Want To Pursue Resolution With Vesttoo Affiliate In Israel

WILMINGTON, Del. — Two Israeli investors have asked a Delaware federal bankruptcy court for relief from the injunction in the Chapter 11 liquidation of Vesttoo Ltd. and its dozens of affiliates so they can pursue arbitration and/or liquidation proceedings in Israel.
December 17, 2024
Oklahoma Judge Approves Over $614K In Expenses For Insurer’s Receivership Estate

OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma state court judge approved a motion filed by Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready, as receiver for property and casualty insurer Go Insurance, which the court previously ordered into liquidation, seeking approval of certain fees and expenses, including $614,121.54 in administrative expenses.
December 16, 2024
U.K. Insurer Wins Stay Of Arbitration In Reinsurance Billings Dispute

NEW YORK — Saying in part that the U.S.-based defendant didn’t show “by a preponderance of the evidence that an agreement to arbitrate exists between the parties,” a New York federal judge cited “New York state law” in granting a U.K.-based insurer’s petition to stay arbitration.
December 13, 2024
Judge Extends Claims Deadline Objection In Workers’ Comp Insurer Chapter 11 Case

WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal bankruptcy judge granted a litigation trustee’s 13th motion to extend the deadline to object to claims in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding of Patriot National Inc., a workers’ compensation insurance firm for which a litigation trust is now acting as successor-in-interest.
December 12, 2024
Stipulation Of Dismissal Filed In D&O Insurance Coverage Dispute With Receiver

OKLAHOMA CITY — A receiver for an insurer in liquidation filed in an Oklahoma federal court a stipulation of dismissal in his declaratory judgment suit against a D&O insurer that insured the parent company of the insurer in liquidation.
December 12, 2024
TRO Bid By Risk Retention Group Denied In Breach Of Contract Missed Premiums Row

MISSOULA, Mont. — A Montana federal judge denied a motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) filed by a risk retention group (RRG) in its breach of contract suit over missed premiums against insureds and a related entity, finding that the insurer’s allegations regarding the potential for liquidation fail to show the irreparable harm required for a TRO.
December 12, 2024
Insurer Seeks Summary Judgment Argument In Asbestos Coverage Row

OMAHA, Neb. — National Indemnity Co. (NICO) has moved in Nebraska federal court for oral argument on pending motions for partial summary judgment in its suit to enforce obligations by defendants it calls reinsurers — one of whom is now insolvent — for liability NICO incurred related to claims for asbestos exposure.
December 06, 2024
10th Circuit Issues Reversal Of Judgment For Liability Insurer In Coverage Row

DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a district court’s judgment for a liability insurer in a dispute between it and a health insurer regarding coverage to the health insurer in an underlying multidistrict litigation antitrust dispute involving an excess errors and omissions (E&O) policy issued by a now-insolvent insurer.
December 05, 2024
Bid For Insurance Magnate’s Halfway House Stay Denied In Money Laundering Case

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina federal magistrate judge denied a motion filed by insurance magnate Greg Lindberg, the former owner of now-insolvent insurers, for detention at a residential reentry center or halfway house pending sentencing after he pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy regarding his $2 billion scheme to defraud insurers and policyholders by funneling money through his extensive global network of insurance companies and was convicted on retrial in a related criminal proceeding.
December 05, 2024
Judge Tosses Suit By Insurance Mogul With ‘Turbulent History Of Litigation’

TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida federal judge on Dec. 4 issued a sua sponte order dismissing without prejudice a declaratory judgment suit filed by insurance mogul Greg Lindberg against the North Carolina Department of Insurance and its commissioner regarding a receivership seeking in part a declaratory judgment as to the total liability owed to Lindberg’s now-insolvent North Carolina insurers, finding that “the parties’ dispute is better litigated in the state court of North Carolina.”
December 05, 2024
Class Counsel Confirms $92M Was Wired To Administrator In Insurers’ ACA Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — After a federal judge entered an order requiring class counsel to return “$92,424,335.84, the excess of the $184,848,671.67 previously distributed for fees over the current fee award,” counsel filed a notice in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims confirming that it wired the $92,424,335.84 to nondispute subclass members in a risk-corridor payment dispute under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).
December 04, 2024
Magnate Seeks Extension In $1B RICO Insurance Fraud Case, Cites Jail Difficulties

RALEIGH, N.C. — Citing “significant restrictions” related to insurance magnate Greg Lindberg’s communication with counsel while being held at a county jail pending sentencing in separate criminal actions, Lindberg and his co-defendant asset management companies moved in North Carolina federal court for more time to respond to an amended complaint in a suit accusing them and other parties of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) violations related to their purported participation in a $1 billion scheme to defraud now-insolvent insurers once owned by Lindberg.
December 04, 2024
Life Insurer’s Rehabilitator Aims To Present ‘Key Terms’ Of Plan ‘By Mid-2025’

HARTFORD, Conn. — The rehabilitator of a life insurer and the subsidiaries that reinsure its liabilities told a Connecticut state court in an accounting and status report that he “expects to have a significantly improved reinsurance management program in place by year-end 2024” and aims to present “the key terms of a plan of rehabilitation by mid-2025.”
December 02, 2024
Status Conference Scheduled In Hurricane Coverage Dispute With Insolvent Insurer

LAFAYETTE, La. — A Louisiana federal magistrate judge issued an order scheduling a follow-up status conference in a homeowner’s suit against his now-insolvent insurer for its purported failure to cover damages caused by Hurricanes Laura and Delta.
November 22, 2024
COMMENTARY: 2024 Key Insurance Decisions, Trends & Developments & A Look Ahead To 2025

By Scott M. Seaman, Pedro E. Hernandez and Lisa M. Roccanova
November 22, 2024
Louisiana Panel Refuses To Review Hurricanes Laura, Delta Coverage Suit

BATON ROUGE, La. — A Louisiana appeals panel denied Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association’s writ seeking review of a lower court’s amended judgment in a coverage dispute arising from property damage that was caused by hurricanes Laura and Delta, finding that although it lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the insurer’s appeal of the amended judgment, it has supervisory jurisdiction to deny the writ.
November 21, 2024
Settlements Approved In Diocese Bankruptcy Case With $85M In Insurers’ Contribution

NEW YORK — A New York federal bankruptcy judge granted a motion filed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y., in its Chapter 11 case seeking approval of settlements whereby the diocese’s insurers agreed to pay more than $85 million into a trust for the benefit of child sexual abuse victims.