InsuranceRSS

  • February 9, 2010

    UK Firm Clyde & Co. Launches NJ Insurance Practice

    British law firm Clyde & Co. LLP has opened its third U.S. outpost, setting up shop in New Jersey with six insurance law practitioners nabbed from Connell Foley LLP.

  • February 9, 2010

    Insurers Can't Dodge Cancer Patient Payout: 4th Circ.

    Rejecting Kenneth W. Starr's argument that a new state law should trump a federal court's previous decision against his clients, a court of appeals has affirmed that two insurers owe holders of cancer policies for the entire sum doctors charge patients.

  • February 9, 2010

    9th Circ. Revives Class In Midland Annuities Suit

    A federal appeals court has reversed denial of class certification for a group of seniors accusing Midland National Life Insurance Co. of misrepresenting its annuities, holding that Hawaii law does not require plaintiffs to prove individual reliance on allegedly deceptive trade practices.

  • February 9, 2010

    Officials Sound Alarm On Anthem Blue Cross Rate Hike

    U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has asked WellPoint Inc. subsidiary Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield to publicly justify its recent proposal to hike premiums as much as 39 percent for California health insurance customers.

  • February 9, 2010

    Dexia Insurance Sale Gets OK Amid Restructuring Deal

    European Union competition regulators signed off on Dexia SA's sale of its specialized, high-end life insurance business to a unit of French banking giant BNP Paribas SA on Tuesday, less than a week after the troubled financial group reached a deal to resolve the EU's probe into its long-term restructuring plan.

  • February 9, 2010

    Travelers' Challenge To Asbestos Claims Thwarted

    In the face of a jurisdictional challenge from Travelers Casualty and Surety Co., a district judge has kept alive a lawsuit by Alfa Laval Inc. that seeks insurance coverage for the defense costs of asbestos exposure claims lodged in various U.S. states against the Swedish engineering equipment company.

  • February 8, 2010

    Intel Wants Insurer To Pay For Antitrust Defenses

    Intel Corp. has asked a court to grant it summary judgment in a dispute with American Guarantee and Liability Insurance Co. over the costs of defending antitrust suits by rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and consumers.

  • February 8, 2010

    Amerisure Off The Hook For $2.2M Arbitration Award

    A federal judge has released Amerisure Mutual Insurance Co. from its obligation to defend and indemnify The Auchter Co. with respect to a $2.2 million arbitration award entered against the company for its allegedly faulty construction work.

  • February 8, 2010

    Insurer Sues Hotels Facing Legionnaires' Claims

    Westport Insurance Corp. has filed a lawsuit claiming it is not required to defend or indemnify Choice Hotels International Inc. and VN Hotel Group LLC, which are accused in two lawsuits of neglecting sanitary conditions to the point that some guests caught Legionnaires' disease — one fatally — while staying at a Quality Suites in Orlando, Fla.

  • February 8, 2010

    SEC Probes Demands On AIG By Goldman, Others

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly examining payment demands that prominent firms, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., made on American International Group Inc. as the mortgage market was imploding in 2008.

  • February 8, 2010

    Insurers Want Off Hook In Chemtura Diacetyl Suits

    A group of insurers is suing Chemtura Canada Co. to avoid having to cover claims related to the illnesses allegedly caused by the company's butter flavoring chemical diacetyl, arguing that Chemtura misrepresented facts and refused to provide information regarding the exhaustion of its primary insurance.

  • February 8, 2010

    Bill Takes Aim At Big Bonuses From TARP Firms

    The latest round of outrage over record bonus pools at some top firms has sparked new legislation from Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Jim Webb, D-Va., that would slap a 50 percent tax on “excessive” 2009 bonuses paid by banks that took taxpayer bailouts during the financial crisis.

  • February 8, 2010

    Insurers Pen Deals In Lydia Capital Fraud Case

    Two insurance companies have reached settlements related to disputed life insurance policies in a case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that accuses hedge fund operator Lydia Capital LLC of carrying out a scheme that cost investors at least $15 million.

  • February 5, 2010

    Fifth Circ. Stays Insurer Payout For Stanford Defense

    A federal appeals court has granted a reprieve to insurance companies that had been previously ordered to pay the defense costs of former Stanford International Bank Ltd. executives, who are being sued for a Ponzi scheme that cost investors billions of dollars.

  • February 5, 2010

    Reps To Pose Insurance Antitrust Exemption Repeal

    Two Democrats are poised to introduce a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would repeal the federal antitrust exemption for medical malpractice and health insurers, moving forward on a component of the House's now-stalled health care overhaul.

  • February 5, 2010

    6th Circ. Upholds CIC Win In Beazer Coverage Spat

    An appellate court has upheld a finding for The Cincinnati Insurance Co. in a $20 million coverage dispute over repairs to defective homes in a subdivision in Lexington, Ky., holding that the damage at issue was not “property damage” caused by an “occurrence” as defined in the home builder's insurance policies with CIC.

  • February 5, 2010

    Fla. High Court Clarifies Personal Injury Claims Rule

    In an dispute between Progressive Express Insurance Co. and a policyholder over unpaid benefits after an automobile accident, the Supreme Court of Florida has held that an amendment to the state insurance code requiring injured parties to give an insurance company notice before filing a lawsuit cannot be applied retroactively.

  • February 5, 2010

    LandAmerica Unit Sues UnitedTech For Contract Breach

    A bankrupt subsidiary of insurer LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. that recently sold its assets to UnitedTech Lender Services Inc. has lodged an adversary complaint that accuses UnitedTech of using funds from the deal for items outside its contractual scope, such as prepetition liabilities.

  • February 5, 2010

    Arbitration Advised In Duke Lacrosse Insurance Case

    A magistrate judge has recommended that a dispute between an American International Group Inc. affiliate and United Educators Insurance over coverage for dozens of lawsuits stemming from the 2006 Duke University lacrosse team rape allegations be sent to arbitration rather than litigated in court.

  • February 5, 2010

    Reinsurer Gen Re Life Hits Insurer With False Ad Suit

    Reinsurance provider General Re Life Corp. has accused U.S. Health & Life Insurance Co. of telling some policyholders that Gen Re Life would cover their claims if U.S. Health was unable to pay, even though Gen Re Life never agreed to do so.