Mealey's Reinsurance
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November 16, 2023
Supersedeas Bond Order In Personal Guaranty Case Gives Defendant A Choice
DURHAM, N.C. — Adopting a recommendation over the defendant’s objections, a North Carolina federal judge set a supersedeas bond of either $524 million or $225 million in a case where the defendant is appealing a judgment requiring him to pay more than $585 million pursuant to a personal guaranty for a reinsurance agreement.
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November 15, 2023
Brokers’ Dismissal, Stay Bids Are Disputed In Row Over Coverage, Fraud Claims
NEW YORK — Claims against brokers are the focus of briefing in a row over whether policies obtained for a facility in Afghanistan are insurance or reinsurance and whether fraud or negligence were involved, with the brokers arguing in New York federal court that the claims should be dismissed or stayed and the plaintiffs contending that the claims are sufficiently stated and there is “no legal basis” for a stay.
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November 15, 2023
Collapsed Hedge Fund’s Co-Founder Appeals Offset Ruling To 2nd Circuit
NEW YORK — A co-founder of the collapsed hedge fund Platinum Partners who argued that application of New York offset law should reduce his liability to zero has filed an appeal in the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals over a ruling that left him liable for just under $2.8 million.
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November 14, 2023
Conversion Bid Denied, Exclusivity Terminated In Vesttoo Bankruptcy Cases
WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal bankruptcy judge has denied without prejudice a U.S. trustee’s motion to convert the jointly administered Chapter 11 cases of Vesttoo Ltd. and 48 affiliates to Chapter 7 cases.
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November 13, 2023
Government, Class Report Agreement To Settle 1 Appeal In ACA Reinsurance Row
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Parties in an appeal concerning a $185,230,024.42 judgment against the government have told the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that they “have agreed to settle this matter,” with a settlement framework approved by both sides in the litigation over the Transitional Reinsurance Program (TRP) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).
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November 10, 2023
Insurer Is Granted Clerk’s Entry Of Default Against Brazilian Reinsurer
OMAHA, Neb. — An insurer has obtained a clerk’s entry of default in its Nebraska federal court suit seeking reimbursement from a Brazil-based reinsurer for a settlement the insurer reached with Montana regarding alleged asbestos exposure.
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November 10, 2023
Summary Judgment Bids Are Filed In Tax Penalty Row Over Microcaptive Arrangements
FORT MYERS, Fla. — In consolidated cases involving promotion of purported microcaptive insurance companies, the plaintiffs tell a Florida federal court that they deserve summary judgment because the government hasn’t showed that they “knowingly made false or fraudulent statements,” and the government seeks “[t]o simplify trial” by obtaining partial summary judgment “on three parts of its claims or Plaintiffs’ defenses.”
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November 08, 2023
2nd Circuit Sets Argument On Ruling That Direct-Benefits Estoppel Doesn’t Apply
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has allotted each side 10 minutes for oral argument on Dec. 4 in a reinsurer’s appeal over denial of its bid to compel arbitration with school districts, which failed because the districts are not party to the agreement containing the arbitration provision and a federal judge ruled that direct-benefits estoppel does not apply to the districts’ claims.
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November 08, 2023
Debtors In Vesttoo Bankruptcy Cases Note Agreement With Unsecured Creditors
WILMINGTON, Del. — In a Nov. 7 objection to conversion to Chapter 7, Chapter 11 debtors Vesttoo Ltd. and 48 affiliates tell a Delaware federal bankruptcy court that they hope to close on a sale of assets “around December 1” and “if such a sale is not possible or cannot come together in that time frame . . . will have worked with [the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors] toward a singular liquidating plan.”
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November 07, 2023
Discovery Will Start In Crop Insurance Row Despite Regulators’ Stay Bid
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Without explanation, a Michigan federal judge denied a motion to stay discovery as to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Federal Crop Insurance Corp. (FCIC) until resolution of their dismissal bid in a suit over crop insurance claims that the plaintiffs say have not been adjusted in more than three years.
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November 01, 2023
Reinsurer Makes Disputed Intervention Bid In Row Between Insurer And Agent
NEW ORLEANS — A captive cell reinsurer seeking to intervene in a dispute between an insurer and a managing general agent (MGA) in Louisiana federal court argues in an Oct. 31 reply brief that it “has satisfied the Fifth Circuit’s four-part test for intervention as a matter of right.”
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November 01, 2023
8th Circuit Denies Panel Rehearing In Qui Tam Crop Insurance Case
ST. LOUIS — A petition for panel rehearing of a qui tam crop insurance case in which a ruling against relators was upheld has been denied without explanation; in seeking rehearing, the relators argued that the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals “overlooked facts in the record” and “misapprehended the import” of United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc.
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November 01, 2023
Judge: Purported Reinsurance Contract’s Existence Adequately Pleaded
HONOLULU — A Hawaii federal judge on Oct. 31 denied a dismissal motion in a dispute over a purported reinsurance policy, ruling that a challenged breach of contract counterclaim “is plausible on its face, setting forth enough detail to explain the existence of a contract.”
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October 31, 2023
Conversion To Chapter 7 Sought For Vesttoo Bankruptcy Cases By U.S. Trustee
WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal bankruptcy judge on Oct. 30 set a Nov. 8 hearing on a motion to convert the jointly administered Chapter 11 cases of Vesttoo Ltd. and 48 affiliates to Chapter 7 cases.
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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.