Newsletter RSS

Mealey's Insurance Insolvency

  • March 07, 2025

    Notice Of Canceled Mediation Filed In Windstorm Damage Insurance Dispute

    SARASOTA, Fla. — A mediator filed a notice in a Florida state court advising that a mediation conference has been canceled in a homeowner’s wind damage coverage suit against the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) in which the homeowner asserts that FIGA was automatically substituted for her now-insolvent homeowners insurer upon the insurer’s insolvency.

  • March 07, 2025

    Insurance Mogul Files Response To Summary Judgment In SEC Fraud Suit Against Him

    WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Insurance mogul Greg Lindberg, a former owner of insurers in liquidation and rehabilitation, filed in a North Carolina federal court a response to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s motion for summary judgment in its suit alleging that he, his advisory services company and its former executive defrauded clients of more than $75 million.

  • March 06, 2025

    Del. Chancery Court Approves Stipulation Resolving Reinsurance Agreement Dispute

    WILMINGTON, Del. — The Delaware Chancery Court approved a stipulation between the receiver for a stock reinsurance company and a life insurance company, allowing the receiver to liquidate at least $58.4 million from a trust account and to distribute at least $49.6 million to the life insurance company.

  • March 05, 2025

    Panel Affirms Judgment For Mortgagee In Hurricane Coverage Row Involving Builder

    GRETNA, La. — A Louisiana appellate court affirmed a lower court’s ruling granting summary judgment to a mortgagee in a builder’s suit seeking payment for repairs made on the mortgagor’s home for Hurricane Ida damage after the homeowner’s now-insolvent insurer allegedly approved the builder’s proposal, finding that the criminal statute at issue in the suit does not create a duty by the mortgagee regarding payment to the borrower’s contractors.

  • March 04, 2025

    Rehabilitator Consents To Intervention To Resolve Setoff Rights Dispute

    HARTFORD, Conn. — The rehabilitator of life insurance company PHL Variable Insurance Co. and various subsidiaries that reinsured its liabilities reached a stipulated agreement allowing a trio of asset managers to intervene in the Connecticut action so that the court can determine setoff rights.

  • March 04, 2025

    Reinsurer Answers Liquidator Assignee’s Breach Of Contract Counterclaim

    NEW YORK— A London-based reinsurer has filed an answer in a federal court in New York to a breach of contact counterclaim brought by the assignee of the liquidator of an insolvent insurer concerning decades-old asbestos claims; the counterclaim was brought by the assignee after the reinsurer successfully petitioned for a stay of arbitration.

  • February 26, 2025

    Homeowner Sues Florida Insurance Guaranty Association To Recover For Water Damage

    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Seeking coverage for alleged water damage to his home, a Florida homeowner filed a breach of contract suit in a Florida state court against the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) as the purported statutory guarantor for his now-insolvent homeowners insurer, United Property & Casualty Insurance Co.

  • February 26, 2025

    4th Circuit Approves Attorney Fees After Not Reviewing Black Lung Benefits Case

    RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals approved an award of $6,200 in attorney fees to a former employee of a coal mine operator for whom an administrative law judge (ALJ) issued an order requiring the operator to pay black lung benefits to him.

  • February 26, 2025

    Hail Damage Suit Against Insolvent Insurer Set For Dismissal Docket In Texas Court

    GALVESTON, Texas — A court administrator filed a notice in a Texas state court placing on the dismissal docket a homeowner’s breach of contract suit against a now-insolvent insurer over its purported failure to cover hail damage.

  • February 25, 2025

    Attorneys, Firm Get OK To Dismiss Appeal Of Civil Contempt Order

    NEW YORK — Voluntary dismissal of an appeal of a civil contempt order was granted in a Feb. 24 opinion issued by a New York federal judge; the bankruptcy court ruling at issue arose in an adversary proceeding in the liquidation of Bermuda insurer and reinsurer PB Life and Annuity Co. Ltd. (PBLA) and other debtors.

  • February 25, 2025

    Show Cause Order Issued For Auto Accident Settlement Involving Inactive Insurer

    POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — A New York state justice issued a show cause order regarding a petition for court approval of a settlement for injuries sustained by a child of an insured in an auto accident, for which a $30,000 settlement offer was made by the insurer pursuant to an underinsurance claim.

  • February 21, 2025

    Magistrate Restricts Access In Asbestos Coverage Dispute Involving Insolvent Insurer

    OMAHA, Neb. — A Nebraska federal magistrate judge granted a motion filed by National Indemnity Co. (NICO) to restrict access to documents containing expert reports in its suit seeking to enforce obligations by defendants it calls reinsurers — one of which is now insolvent — for liability NICO incurred related to claims for asbestos exposure.

  • February 21, 2025

    Status Report Filed In 1st Circuit By Puerto Rico Insurance Commissioner

    BOSTON — In status report filed in the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the Puerto Rico insurance commissioner and the auxiliary rehabilitator of a health insurer informed the court that a court hearing a case under Title III of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act is currently considering an objection filed by Puerto Rico’s Financial Oversight and Management Board opposing requests by two plaintiffs in related cases before a Puerto Rico federal court asking the Title III court to allow their cases to proceed to trial.

  • February 21, 2025

    Legal Counsel Seeks Over $126K For Fees And Expenses In Insurer Bankruptcy Case

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Legal counsel for a trustee for estates in an insolvent insurer’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding filed an application in Delaware federal bankruptcy court seeking compensation and reimbursement of expenses for a total of $126,307.16.

  • February 20, 2025

    Guaranty Association Agrees To Inspection Of Homeowner’s Wind Damaged Property

    BARTOW, Fla. — The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) filed a notice in a Florida state court agreeing to an inspection of property purportedly damaged in a windstorm in a homeowner’s suit asserting that FIGA, as the alleged statutory obligor for his now-insolvent homeowners insurer, breached its obligations under state law by failing to adequately compensate the insured for his loss.

  • February 19, 2025

    Insurer, Captive Reinsurer Prevail In Appeal Of South Carolina Regulator’s Order

    COLUMBIA, S.C. — Saying that “the evidence relied upon by the Director was unreliable, unsupported, and contrary to law,” a South Carolina Administrative Law Court judge permanently enjoined the South Carolina Department of Insurance (SCDOI) from enforcing an order “until a final decision is issued by the [SDCOI] in this matter”; the order directed Atlantic Coast Life Insurance Co. (ACL) and ACL’s captive reinsurer, Southern Atlantic Re Inc. (SAR), to stop writing new business by the end of 2024, among other things.

  • February 19, 2025

    Loan Repayment Case Stayed In Dispute Between Malta-Based Company And Insurer

    RALEIGH, N.C. —  A North Carolina federal judge granted a Malta-based company’s unopposed motion to stay a breach of contract case a now-insolvent insurer filed against it for the company’s alleged failure to make payments on a loan.

  • February 19, 2025

    After Voluntary Dismissal By Insurers’ Receiver, Judge Tosses $300M Ponzi Case

    MIAMI — After a receiver for insolvent insurers and related entities filed a notice of voluntary dismissal, a Florida federal judge issued a docket-only entry dismissing without prejudice Wells Fargo in the receiver’s suit alleging that Wells Fargo aided and abetted fraud in a “massive” Ponzi scheme purportedly orchestrated by owners of insurers, some of which are now in receivership, resulting in elderly investor victims losing more than $300 million after scheme operators sold them promissory notes secured by collateral in stranger-oriented life insurance policies (STOLIs).

  • February 18, 2025

    Additional Briefing Sought In Row Over Guaranty Association Repayment Obligation

    RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina federal judge issued an order permitting the parties to file additional briefs in the North Carolina Insurance Guaranty Association’s (NCIGA) suit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), its secretary and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), seeking a determination that the NCIGA is not a primary plan required to reimburse DHHS and CMS under the federal Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) statute.

  • February 13, 2025

    Discovery Facilitator Named In Delaware Suit Over Alleged Asset Dissipation

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A discovery facilitator has been appointed in a Delaware Chancery Court case concerning the “Agera transactions” — a complex asset-swap arrangement that the plaintiffs allege resulted in the “dissipation of at least $250 million.”

  • February 10, 2025

    Summary Judgment Reversed In Medicaid Negligence Suit Involving Insolvency Pool

    ATLANTA  — A Georgia appellate court reversed a lower court ruling granting summary judgment to a state broker of Georgia Medicaid transportation services in a wheelchair user’s  negligence suit over a purported injury during a trip provided by the broker’s independent contractor, whose insurer was insolvent, finding that genuine issues of fact remain regarding an agency relationship between the broker and contractor.

  • February 10, 2025

    Florida Panel Upholds Ruling Denying Attorney Fees In Auto Claim Coverage Dispute

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.  — Without providing explanation, a Florida appellate court affirmed a lower court’s ruling denying an insured’s motion for attorney fees in an auto insurance coverage dispute where the lower court found that the insured was not entitled to attorney fees because the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) “did not affirmatively deny the claim.”

  • January 30, 2025

    Judge Appoints Special Master In Insurance Magnate’s Money Laundering Case

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina federal judge appointed a special master to assist with restitution that is part of a plea agreement entered into by insurance magnate Greg Lindberg, the former owner of now-insolvent insurers, who 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.

  • January 28, 2025

    Pari Passu Advocated By Policyholders Seeking To Intervene In Rehabilitation

    HARTFORD, Conn. — A second motion to intervene has been filed in the Connecticut state court rehabilitation proceeding of life insurer PHL Variable Insurance Co. and the subsidiaries that reinsure its liabilities, this one by two policyholders who say their policies are worth millions and want a moratorium order to be modified to pay death benefits on a pari passu basis instead of capping such benefits at $300,000.

  • January 28, 2025

    3rd Circuit Stays Underwriting Association Mandate Pending Certiorari Filing

    PHILADELPHIA — Pending filing of a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals without explanation granted an unopposed motion to stay the mandate of its ruling that 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, is a public entity rather than a private one.