Mealey's Reinsurance
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October 31, 2023
Plaintiff Wins Interpretation Dispute In Long-Term Care Insurance Benefits Row
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A Montana federal judge on Oct. 30 granted partial summary judgment for the plaintiff in a suit over long-term care insurance benefits, concluding “narrowly” that the policy rider at issue “does not categorically exclude coverage for care provided by a family member” and also ruling that one defendant is bound by that interpretation because of a reinsurance agreement.
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October 30, 2023
Fronting Company Dismisses Suit Against Captive Reinsurer Over Penalty
NEW YORK — A fronting company voluntarily dismissed a case in which it sought to hold a captive reinsurer responsible for a penalty over what it alleged were $2,207,896 in misdirected payments, filing an Oct. 27 notice in New York federal court.
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October 27, 2023
Reinsurer’s Bid For Ex Parte TRO In Arbitration Row Is Sidelined By English Injunction
NEW YORK — A New York federal court case in which a reinsurer sought an ex parte temporary restraining order (TRO) to protect its arbitration rights has been stayed after the respondent obtained an anti-suit injunction from an English court.
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October 27, 2023
Self-Insurance Pool Case Over Reinsurance Agreements Is Dismissed Per Stipulation
DENVER — A school district’s suit in Colorado federal court over liability claim settlements has been dismissed with prejudice pursuant to a stipulation by the parties.
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October 25, 2023
Plaintiff, Reinsurers Share ‘Common Legal Interest’ In Malpractice Row, Judge Says
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Deciding discovery disputes in a suit over alleged legal malpractice, an Illinois federal magistrate judge ruled in part that the plaintiff “and its reinsurers share a common legal interest in holding Defendants liable for their alleged malpractice and recovering their losses.”
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October 23, 2023
Reinsurer Gets Arbitration Order Over Liquidator’s Opposition In California Court
LOS ANGELES — Saying in part that the dispute is “precisely the type . . . that must be resolved through an independent action, not the summary claims process,” a California judge granted a reinsurer’s motion to compel arbitration with an insurer in liquidation over a disagreement regarding the calculation of sliding scale commissions.
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October 23, 2023
Government, Amicus Disagree On Review Of Insurance Info Reverse-Preemption Row
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the latest filings in a corporate privacy case involving microcaptive insurance company information and the McCarran-Ferguson Act (MFA), the government urges the U.S. Supreme Court to deny certiorari, and amicus National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) argues that case merits review.
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October 20, 2023
11th Circuit: Arbitration Order ‘Is Still Final,’ So Subrogees’ Appeal Continues
ATLANTA — Denying what it construed as a motion to dismiss an appeal concerning an alleged $28 million in damages to an Algerian power plant, an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said, “Although the district court deferred the issue of the scope of the arbitration provisions to the arbitrator, its order is still final because it found that the provisions required it to do so.”
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October 19, 2023
Delaware Supreme Court Won’t Certify Interlocutory Appeal On Intervention Denial
WILMINGTON, Del. — The Delaware Supreme Court has declined to accept an appeal from an interlocutory order denying Arrowood Indemnity Co.’s motion to intervene in a suit that seeks to compel the Delaware insurance commissioner to start liquidation proceedings against Arrowood.
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October 18, 2023
Judge Grants Extension To Respond In $1B RICO Suit Filed By Insolvent Insurers
RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina federal judge granted a former chief investment officer’s (CIO) motion for an extension of time to respond to an amended complaint in a $1 billion Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) suit accusing him, the owner of now-insolvent insurers and other people and affiliated companies of participating in a scheme to defraud the insurers and their policyholders by using policyholder money to purchase non-insurance companies and to divert policyholder money to the owner.
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October 18, 2023
Ruling Limits Some Deposition Topics In Tax Attorney’s Microcaptive Insurance Suit
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Ruling on the latest discovery dispute in a case involving a penalty related to microcaptive insurance companies, a Florida federal magistrate judge sustained the government’s objections to eight of the 14 topics the plaintiff noticed for depositions of the Internal Revenue Service.
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October 18, 2023
Debtors In Vesttoo Chapter 11 Case Ask Bankruptcy Court To Establish Bar Dates
WILMINGTON, Del. — Vesttoo Ltd. and 48 affiliated entities (collectively, the debtors) have asked a Delaware federal bankruptcy court to set a series of bar dates in their jointly administered Chapter 11 case, starting with a Dec. 1 deadline for nongovernmental entities or individuals to file proof of claims that arose before the debtors filed for bankruptcy.
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October 18, 2023
Plaintiffs File Notice Of Appeal Regarding Rulings In ACA Reinsurance Row
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two plaintiffs in a lawsuit over the Transitional Reinsurance Program (TRP) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) have filed a notice that they are appealing rulings against them that were issued in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
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October 17, 2023
Policy Interpretations Argued In Coverage Row Over Sex Abuse Case Settlements
SEATTLE — Parties in a case over reimbursement for defense and settlement of suits alleging sexual abuse are disputing the interpretation of policy terms, with the plaintiff telling a Washington federal court in an Oct. 16 motion for summary judgment that allegations of retaliation are sufficient to state claims against a foreign reinsurer.
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October 16, 2023
Late Exclusion Bid Follows Final OK Of Life Insurance COI Increase Settlement
PHILADELPHIA — Following final approval of a class settlement of two similar cases over universal life insurance policy cost of insurance (COI) increases, two groups on Oct. 13 asked a Pennsylvania federal court to let them request that 52 policies be excluded from the settlement class even though the opt-out deadline has passed.
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October 16, 2023
Parties In Breach, Bad Faith Lawsuit Spar Over Dismissal Arguments
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — In separate replies addressing the plaintiff’s contentions that it is not an insurer and that the policies at issue are not reinsurance, defendants in an Alabama federal suit over reimbursement for workers’ compensation claims reiterate their arguments for dismissing the breach of contract, bad faith, laches and equitable estoppel claims against them.
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October 13, 2023
Judge Dismisses Claims Bermuda Unfairly Denied Investor’s Reinsurance Bid
LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge dismissed with prejudice the remaining claims brought by a California investor who accused a Bermudan regulatory agency and its two officers of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and tortious interference by denying its bid to become the controlling shareholder of a Bermudan reinsurance company.
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October 12, 2023
Insurers Get Arbitration Award Confirmed Against Non-Appearing Reinsurer
FORT WORTH, Texas — Three U.S.-based insurers successfully sought confirmation of an arbitration award against a China-based reinsurer, with a Texas federal judge noting that the reinsurer did not appear in the action.
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October 12, 2023
Pennsylvania Mediation Privilege Law Is Applied In Indemnification Row
TRENTON, N.J. — Ruling on a motion to compel discovery in a dispute between insurers and reinsurers over indemnification for asbestos bodily injury claims, a New Jersey federal magistrate judge denied it without prejudice as to two categories of documents but partly granted it as to a third category.
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October 12, 2023
After 8th Circuit Upholds Ruling In Qui Tam Case, Relators Seek Panel Rehearing
ST. LOUIS — Arguing that an Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel “overlooked facts in the record” and “misapprehended the import” of United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc., relators asked the panel to rehear the qui tam crop insurance case in which a ruling against them was upheld.
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October 10, 2023
Trustees File Notice Of Appeal In ERISA Row Over Imputed Withdrawal Liability
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The trustees of a multiemployer pension plan filed an Oct. 9 notice of appeal to the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for a ruling dismissing their lawsuit against a Bermuda insurance and reinsurance company over $934 million in withdrawal liability.
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October 05, 2023
Parties Make Dismissal Arguments In Crop Insurance Row Over Long-Pending Claims
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Arguing that “if this case is not ripe, it never will be,” plaintiffs who sued over crop insurance claims that they say have not been adjusted in more than three years mostly opposed a dismissal motion filed in Michigan federal court by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Federal Crop Insurance Corp. (FCIC).
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October 05, 2023
Fronting Company Sues Captive Reinsurer Over $2.2M In ‘Misdirected Payments’
NEW YORK — Seeking to hold a captive reinsurer responsible for a penalty, a fronting company has sued in New York federal court over what it calls $2,207,896 in misdirected payments.
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October 05, 2023
After Transfer, Texas Federal Judge Orders Refiling In Reinsurer’s Breach Suit
FORT WORTH, Texas — Criticizing the formatting requirements of the transferring court and incorporating an image of a “Welcome to Texas” sign, a Texas federal judge ordered all pending motions dismissed without prejudice and the complaint refiled in a case involving allegations of a fraudulent scheme to inflate provisional commissions and breach of various agreements.
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October 04, 2023
Unsecured Creditors In Vesttoo Chapter 11 Case Get Leave To Conduct Discovery
WILMINGTON, Del. — The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the jointly administered Chapter 11 case of Vesttoo Ltd. and 48 affiliated entities has been granted leave by a Delaware federal bankruptcy judge to conduct discovery.