Mealey's Reinsurance
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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.
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October 04, 2023
Parties Spar Over Motion To Dismiss Counterclaim In Purported Reinsurance Row
HONOLULU — Asserting in a reply brief that it is “critically important” for the terms of a reinsurance agreement to be memorialized in writing, a plaintiff expanded on its arguments for a Hawaii federal court to dismiss a breach of contract counterclaim in a dispute over a purported reinsurance policy.
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October 04, 2023
Reinsurer Largely Loses Privilege Row Involving Allocation Modeling Documents
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Finding in part that allocation modeling documents in a discovery dispute are not privileged, a New York federal magistrate judge mostly denied a reinsurer’s motion for a protective order in the breach suit involving an environmental losses settlement.
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October 03, 2023
Plaintiffs Win Remand Of Coverage Row Over Aircraft Leased To Russian Airline
MIAMI — Citing “the complete alienage jurisdiction rule,” a Florida federal judge ordered remand to a Florida state court in a coverage dispute over aircraft that a Russian airline refused to return after the invasion of Ukraine.
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September 29, 2023
Dismissal Bid Fails In Excess Loss Reinsurance Row With ERISA, Bad Faith Claims
PITTSBURGH — Ruling the arguments “more appropriately handled at the summary judgment stage,” a Pennsylvania federal judge on Sept. 28 denied a dismissal motion in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over an excess loss reinsurance contract.
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September 29, 2023
2nd Circuit Upholds Dismissal Of Investors’ Complaint Against GE
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a federal judge’s dismissal of shareholder claims against General Electric Co. (GE) and certain of its executives, agreeing that the investors had failed to adequately plead scienter in their claims that the GE defendants had made misstatements regarding the company’s financial condition.
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September 28, 2023
Offset Applied In Finalizing Damages Against Collapsed Hedge Fund’s Co-Founder
NEW YORK — In a ruling involving interpretation of what he called a “somewhat ambiguous” part of a New York offset law, a New York federal judge reduced what would otherwise have been a liability of more than $15.2 million against a co-founder of the collapsed hedge fund Platinum Partners to just under $2.8 million.
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September 27, 2023
8th Circuit Affirms Ruling Against Relators In Qui Tam Crop Insurance Case
ST. LOUIS — In a ruling that drew a partial concurrence, an Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel upheld a challenged ruling in a qui tam crop insurance case, saying in part that “gaps in proof are fatal” to the plaintiffs’ claims under the False Claims Act (FCA).
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September 26, 2023
Judge: Post-Judgment Garnishment Bids Fail In Excessive Force Case
MUSKOGEE, Okla. — Ruling in part that the Oklahoma doctrine of “reasonable expectations” does not apply and that the relevant coverage agreement is not ambiguous, an Oklahoma federal judge on Sept. 25 ended post-judgment garnishment bids against an insurer and reinsurer in an excessive force case pertaining to a traffic stop.
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September 19, 2023
High Court Review Sought For Reverse-Preemption Ruling In Insurance Info Row
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Arguing in part that the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals removed “large pieces of insurance regulation from the purview of states, where it has long been placed and confirmed by the McCarran-Ferguson Act [MFA],” the Delaware Department of Insurance (DDOI) asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a corporate privacy case involving microcaptive insurance company information.
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September 19, 2023
Remand To Florida Court Argued In Coverage Row Over Leased Aircraft
MIAMI — Arguing in a reply brief that “in lawsuits between parties of different countries, there is no federal diversity jurisdiction,” plaintiffs in a coverage dispute over aircraft that a Russian airline refused to return after the invasion of Ukraine urge a Florida federal court to remand the case to Florida state court.
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September 18, 2023
Justice Denies Protective Order, Disqualification Bid In Reinsurance Row
NEW YORK — Addressing two motions relating to an audit agreement, a New York justice denied both a liquidator’s request for a protective order regarding certain previously produced documents and reinsurers’ bid to disqualify the liquidator’s counsel.