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Mealey's Reinsurance

  • 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 06, 2025

    Reinsurance Pool Manager Accused Of Illegal $1B Transfer In Reorganization Scheme

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A member of a captive insurance and reinsurance pool alleges in a complaint filed in a Delaware state court that the pool manager and others engaged in an illegal reorganization that transferred policies from its "A" rated pool with more than $1 billion in assets to a new, unrated insurer with limited capitalization and only $170 million in reinsurance limits.

  • March 05, 2025

    Fact Witness Testimony Limited In RESPA Class Suit Over Captive Reinsurance Pacts

    FRESNO, Calif. — A federal judge in California barred a fact witness in a long-running Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) case from providing opinion testimony based on scientific, technical or specialized knowledge but allowed testimony regarding performed analysis and data review in connection with risk transfer and reinsurance services that he and a partner were hired to provide.

  • March 05, 2025

    ‘Plausible’ Interpretations Doom Summary Judgment Bids In Reinsurance Row

    WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Calling both sides’ interpretations of facultative reinsurance certificates “plausible,” a New York federal judge denied competing summary judgment motions in a breach of contract suit involving a confidential environmental losses settlement.

  • March 05, 2025

    Judge Resolves Motions In Limine In Suit Over Alleged Legal Malpractice

    EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — In a four-page, 19-point ruling on competing motions in limine in a suit over alleged legal malpractice, an Illinois federal judge said in part that she denied the insurer plaintiff’s request to prohibit references to underlying damages that its reinsurers covered because while the insurer “cannot seek to recover the amounts” those reinsurers paid, “there may be some reference to those amounts in seeking damages for [the insurer’s] increased premiums.”

  • March 04, 2025

    Liquidating Trust Seeks Approval Of $7.1M Settlement In Reinsurance Bankruptcy Suit

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A liquidating trust filed a motion in Delaware federal bankruptcy court seeking approval of a $7.1 million settlement with a company that alleged a number of constructive trust claims against Vesttoo Ltd., an Israel-based fintech startup involved in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

  • March 04, 2025

    COMMENTARY: Sustainability Recalibration: What Insurers And Policyholders Should Know About ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance Considerations) Under Trump 2.0, Part 1

    By Scott M. Seaman

  • 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.

  • March 03, 2025

    Reinsurer, Agency Dismiss RICO, State Claims In Fraudulent Injury Case

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A reinsurer and a management general agency were granted permission by a New York federal court to dismiss claims against an ambulatory surgery center in an ongoing Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) lawsuit alleging fraudulent workers’ compensation claims and personal injury lawsuits.

  • March 03, 2025

    Parties Brief Summary Judgment Bids In Indemnification Dispute Involving Deals

    BOSTON — Competing summary judgment motions have been filed in an indemnification dispute, with the plaintiff telling a Massachusetts federal court that it is entitled to damages of at least $75.7 million plus interest and fees under the plain language of a stock purchase agreement (SPA) and reinsurance agreement, and the defendant contending that agreements executed in a  later “clean shell” deal constituted a novation of any obligations and that the plaintiff’s conduct since 2013 “is not how an insurer acts with respect to a company that it truly believes is providing it with reinsurance coverage.”

  • February 27, 2025

    Some Counterclaims Are Dismissed In Case Concerning Fronting Arrangement Deal

    NEW ORLEANS — Five counterclaims that a managing general agent (MGA) asserted against an insurer in a case arising from a fronting arrangement have been dismissed wholly or in part, with a Louisiana federal judge repeatedly citing Louisiana law in his ruling on the insurer’s motion.

  • February 26, 2025

    English Judge Denies Permission To Appeal In Reinsurance Dispute

    LONDON — Saying in part that he doesn’t think an appeal of a final antiarbitration injunction has a “realistic” chance of succeeding, a judge of the High Court of England and Wales denied a reinsurer’s application in a contractual construction case that involves a hierarchy or “confusion” clause; he also weighed in on several disputes regarding costs that the reinsurer will have to pay.

  • 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

    Insurer Seeks Partial Judgment, Reconsideration In Reinsurance Dispute

    CHICAGO — An insurer filed a motion for reconsideration and a motion for partial judgment on the pleadings in its ongoing dispute with its reinsurer, arguing that an Illinois federal judge incorrectly determined that a portion of the reinsurance agreement is ambiguous and maintaining that judgment is warranted on the reinsurer’s request for attorney fees because the reinsurer failed to support the request for attorney fees.

  • February 24, 2025

    Experts Out In Legal Malpractice Case After Judge Finds Testimony Unreliable

    EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — An Illinois federal judge on Feb. 23 found that two experts retained by a law firm in an insurer’s suit over alleged legal malpractice cannot testify because their conclusions and opinions are not reliable under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.

  • February 24, 2025

    Magistrate Says Plaintiffs Didn’t Agree To Arbitrate With Foreign Reinsurers

    NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey federal magistrate judge recommended remanding a reinsurance dispute to state court, writing that defendant international reinsurers who contended that the suit was removable under the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the New York Convention) failed to establish that the relevant parties entered a binding arbitration agreement.

  • 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

    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 21, 2025

    Insurer, Reinsurer Reach Resolution Agreement In Indemnification Row

    NEW YORK — A dispute in a federal court in New York over indemnification between an insurer and a reinsurer stemming from clash reinsurance treaties tied to a $200 million settlement of sexual abuse claims is poised for out-of-court resolution according to a status letter filed by the reinsurer.

  • February 20, 2025

    Consolidation Bid Disputed In Case That Arose From Fronting Arrangement Deal

    NEW ORLEANS — Parties in a case arising from a fronting arrangement are disputing a motion to consolidate, with a managing general agent (MGA) arguing in a reply brief that the Louisiana federal court should focus on “the integrated nature of the transactions and agreements at issue” and that consolidation would “promote judicial economy.”

  • February 20, 2025

    Ex-CEO’s Legal Bills Case Draws Fiduciary Breach, Concealment Counterclaims

    DALLAS — Filing counterclaims against its former CEO in Texas federal court, a delisted insurer that says its shares are now “essentially worthless” alleges that his purported “scheme to doctor the claims reserves in the commercial auto line was a significant factor in” losses connected to termination of a loss portfolio transfer (LPT) reinsurance contract.

  • February 20, 2025

    United States Petition Seeks Tennessee Microcaptive Insurance Records

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The United States filed a petition in a federal court in Tennessee, seeking to compel the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) to turn over tax documents requested by the Internal Revenue Service as part of an ongoing investigation into microcaptive insurance companies and potential tax evasion.

  • 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.