InsuranceRSS

  • January 5, 2010

    DC Circ. Readjusts Worker OT Suit In Win For Geico

    Geico auto damage adjusters are exempt from overtime provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, reversing a lower court's decision and handing a win to the insurer.

  • January 5, 2010

    9th Circ. Affirms $450M Award In Reinsurance Spat

    A federal appeals court has affirmed a $450 million arbitration award in favor of bankrupt Superior National Insurance Co. in a dispute with U.S. Life Insurance Co. over reinsurance coverage for workers' compensation insurance policies.

  • January 5, 2010

    Lloyd's Told To Pay Part Of Shipyard Asbestos Defense

    A federal judge has ordered Jacksonville Shipyards Inc. liability insurers Lloyd's of London and London Market Insurers to fork over $840,000 to two excess insurers that bore the brunt of costs arising from asbestos and silica litigation against the shipyard company.

  • January 5, 2010

    BNSF Slams WR Grace, Arrowood Insurance Settlement

    BNSF Railway Co. has blasted a bankruptcy judge's approval of a settlement with an insurer in materials company W.R. Grace & Co.'s Chapter 11 proceedings, saying in its pending appeal that it wants to retain its rights to pursue certain insurance coverage laid out in Grace's reorganization plan.

  • January 5, 2010

    Cirrus Asks To Ground Insurers' Suit Over Plane Crash

    Airplane maker Cirrus Design Corp. has asked a judge to throw out a product liability suit brought by two insurers seeking to recover more than $11 million they paid out after the plane crash that claimed the lives of New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and a flight instructor.

  • January 5, 2010

    Aviva To Expand US Reach With River Road Buy

    The asset management arm of British insurance company Aviva PLC announced Tuesday that it will purchase all shares of Louisville, Ky.-based equity management firm River Road Asset Management LLC for an undisclosed price.

  • January 5, 2010

    Imperial Sugar Settles Plant Blast Claims For $345M

    Imperial Sugar Co. has settled property and business interruption insurance claims stemming from a deadly 2008 explosion at a Georgia refinery for a total of $345 million, just shy of the $350 million limit under the policy.

  • January 5, 2010

    Dickstein Insurance Team Jumps To Kasowitz Benson

    A team of more than a dozen insurance recovery litigators has jumped from Dickstein Shapiro LLP to Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman LLP's New York office.

  • January 5, 2010

    Nationwide, Prudential Settle In DataTern Patent Suit

    Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. and Prudential Insurance Co. of America have become the latest defendants to settle with DataTern Inc. in its infringement suit targeting more than a dozen companies over a patent related to database access systems.

  • January 4, 2010

    Credit Default Swap Contract Spat Sent To State Court

    A federal judge has granted a request by MBIA Insurance Corp. and LaCrosse Financial Products LLC to send their dispute with Royal Bank of Canada over three credit default swap contracts back to state court in New York.

  • January 4, 2010

    Chubb Faces Suit Involving 'Dr. Phil' Supplement

    A nutritional supplement manufacturer associated with TV psychologist “Dr. Phil” McGraw has sued a subsidiary of the Chubb Corp., saying the insurance company breached a contract by failing to cover it in a product liability action.

  • January 4, 2010

    Bucking Expectations, Insurance Suits Drop 9% In '09

    While attorneys say economic conditions have helped ignite insurance disagreements, the number of such disputes to enter federal courthouses actually dropped considerably in 2009, with new insurance case filings falling by about 9 percent compared with the previous year.

  • January 4, 2010

    Classes OK'd In Geico Personal Injury Coverage Suit

    A federal judge has certified two classes of car insurance customers to move forward with some claims in a suit alleging Geico Corp. arbitrarily refused to pay for medical care after they were injured in auto accidents, in violation of Delaware law.

  • January 4, 2010

    MBIA Wins Most Defense Claims In Insurance Dispute

    MBIA Inc. has received a district court's permission to recover the majority of $29.5 million in defense and indemnity costs it incurred during federal and state regulatory investigations and derivative actions brought by shareholders accusing the company of concealing massive financial losses.

  • January 4, 2010

    MetLife Faces Suit Over TQP Encryption Patent

    Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. has become the latest company to be targeted by TQP Development LLC, which accuses the insurer of infringing a patent for encrypted data transmission.

  • January 4, 2010

    AXA Benefits Plaintiffs Lose Cert. Bid On Contract Claim

    A federal judge has refused to grant class certification for a breach of contract claim in a case accusing AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co. of violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by changing its retiree health benefit plan.

  • January 4, 2010

    Judge Drops Prudential Improper Investment Class Suit

    A federal judge has dismissed a putative class action that accused The Prudential Life Insurance Co. of America of improperly investing life insurance benefits without the knowledge of its account holders.

  • January 4, 2010

    Lexington Need Not Cover B&L's ReNu Claims: Judge

    Lexington Insurance Co. does not have to indemnify Bausch & Lomb Inc. for thousands of product liability claims over its ReNu contact lens solution, a federal judge has ruled, saying the claims cannot be treated as a single occurrence under the policies Lexington sold the eye care company.

  • January 4, 2010

    Travelers, Reinsurer Settle Goodyear Coverage Spat

    Travelers Indemnity Co. has settled with a third reinsurer — Phoenix of Greece Insurance Co. SA — in a breach of contract suit seeking reimbursement for payments Travelers made to Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. for the manufacturer's environmental liabilities.

  • January 1, 2010

    Insurance Legislation To Watch In 2010

    Insurance companies stayed relatively stable during the recent economic crisis, but they may face major changes in some of the biggest bills before Congress in 2010, particularly health care and financial reform. Law360 asked top insurance attorneys for a list of the bills they are monitoring closely this year.