Mealey's Insurance Pleadings : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Insurance Pleadings

May 27, 2025
Environmental Risk Insurer Sues Agent, Alleges Contract Breach, Tortious Conduct

NEW YORK — A U.K.-based global specialist insurance company alleges in a New York federal court that its agent unlawfully shared confidential business information that led to its U.S. small business environmental book being shopped for reinsurance coverage by another insurance company, bringing claims for breach of contract and tortious conduct against the agent and stating that it lost millions of dollars and nearly all policy renewals.
May 27, 2025
Contempt Motion Draws Opposition In Fraud Suit Over Security Loans

NEW YORK — Urging a New York federal court to deny a contempt motion in litigation over fraud and racketeering allegations that involve the parent company of Bermuda reinsurer 777 Re Ltd., parties who are the focus of that motion are arguing in part that the movants “made no attempt to block the transactions — because neither violates” a preliminary injunction (PI) order.
May 23, 2025
Insureds Say Carrier Acted In Bad Faith By Denying $19M Beryllium Release Claim

BOSTON — An insurer’s denial of an insured’s claim for more than $19 million in business interruption losses sustained as the result of a release of beryllium in the wake of three named storms constitutes a breach of contract and bad faith, the insureds say in a complaint filed in Massachusetts federal court.
May 23, 2025
13 Potential Buyers Interested In Life Insurer’s Business, Rehabilitator Says

WATERBURY, Conn. — The rehabilitator of PHL Variable Insurance Co. and the subsidiaries that reinsure its liabilities told a Connecticut state court in a second accounting and status report that 13 entities have been identified as potential buyers for portions of the insurer’s business.
May 23, 2025
Insurer Disputes Coverage For Suit Arising From Super Bowl Parade Shooting

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A commercial general liability insurer filed a first amended complaint in a Missouri federal court seeking a declaration that it has no duty to provide coverage for an underlying lawsuit alleging The Greater Kansas City Sports Commission did not implement adequate security measures to protect the thousands of attendees at the 2024 Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade, asserting that the policy’s assault and battery exclusion bars coverage.
May 22, 2025
Tax Firm Claims Standing, Opposes IRS Dismissal Motion In Microcaptive Rule Suit

DALLAS — In response to the Internal Revenue Service’s motion to dismiss its challenge to a final rule requiring reports for certain microcaptive insurance arrangements, a tax consulting firm told a Texas federal court that it has standing because it is directly regulated and faces injury from the rule’s new reporting requirements; the tax firm further argues that dismissal is premature without review of the administrative record and that the issue should be resolved through summary judgment.
May 21, 2025
Insured’s Assignee Brings Bad Faith Suit Seeking To Recover $3.2M Consent Judgment

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A horse stable owner insured’s assignee sued an insurer for bad faith in a Florida federal court, seeking to recover an underlying $3.2 million consent judgment arising from the settlement of an underlying fraud lawsuit.
May 21, 2025
5th Case Added To Consolidated Litigation Over Fronting Deal Agreements, Commissions

FORT WORTH, Texas — A fifth case has been added to consolidated litigation between reinsurers and National Transportation Associates Inc. (NTA) that centers on the reinsurers’ claims of inflated provisional commissions and breach of various agreements, with the latest allegations involving a dispute over whether contractual mandates issued by California and other states render the commission structure unenforceable.
May 21, 2025
Majority’s Opinion Rewrites Bad Faith Law In Florida, Insurer Argues To 11th Circuit

ATLANTA — An insurer filed a petition seeking rehearing of an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals majority’s reversal of a lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in its favor in an insured’s lawsuit alleging that it acted in bad faith when it failed to make a settlement offer in an estate’s allegations of negligent security against the insured, contending that the “majority’s opinion rewrites Florida bad faith law.”
May 21, 2025
Clinic Insured, Assignee Appeal Ruling In Favor Of Professional Liability Insurer

SALT LAKE CITY — A clinic insured and its assignee filed a notice indicating they are appealing a Utah federal judge’s ruling that granted a professional liability insurer’s motion for summary judgment on the remaining bad faith claim in a coverage dispute arising from a medical malpractice lawsuit.
May 20, 2025
Fighting Fees, NFL Plan Urges 5th Circuit To Say Disability Claimant Had No Success

NEW ORLEANS — In its appellant brief urging the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse an award of more than $1.25 million in attorney fees and costs, the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan called the award “an unprecedented expansion of the availability of attorney’s fees to ERISA litigants who do not succeed on any legal claim and obtain no judicial relief.”
May 20, 2025
Insured Files Amended Complaint In Silica Dust Exposure Coverage Suit

LOS ANGELES — An insured filed an amended complaint in California federal court to provide an updated list of the underlying bodily injury suits filed against it stemming from silica dust exposure from the insured’s products and reiterating its claims for breach of contract, bad faith and declaratory judgment against its insurer.
May 20, 2025
Underlying Plaintiff Says Coverage Owed For Disposal Of Construction Debris

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — An insurer has a duty to defend its insureds in an underlying suit stemming from the insureds’ alleged improper disposal of construction debris because the underlying suit against the insureds alleges an occurrence for which coverage is afforded under the policy, the underlying plaintiff says in its reply in support of its cross-motion for summary judgment.
May 19, 2025
Delaware Court Asked To Dismiss Primary, Excess Insurer From D&O Coverage Dispute

WILMINGTON, Del. — An insured and its primary and excess insurers filed a stipulation asking a Delaware court to dismissed the two insurers from the insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking directors and officers and entity securities liability insurance coverage for an underlying appraisal action, indicating that a settlement has been reached between them.
May 19, 2025
Coverage Owed For Water Damage, Surplus Lines Insured Says In Amended Complaint

ATLANTA — A surplus lines insurer breached its contract and acted in bad faith in denying an insured’s claim for damages to a number of apartment units damaged as a result of frozen water pipes that burst, an insured says in its amended complaint filed in Georgia federal court.
May 15, 2025
IRS Moves To Dismiss Microcaptive Rule Challenge, Claiming Lack Of Jurisdiction

DALLAS — In a challenge to a final rule in which the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and U.S. Treasury Department require reports for certain purported microcaptive insurance arrangements, the IRS moved in a Texas federal court to dismiss a tax consulting firm’s amended complaint, asserting that it acted within its statutory authority, that the court lacks jurisdiction, that the tax firm fails to state an actual controversy and that the suit is barred under the Declaratory Judgments Act (DJA).
May 14, 2025
Former Physician’s Assistant Whose LTD Benefits Were Nixed Sues For Reinstatement

LYNCHBURG, Va. — Suing the claims administrator that terminated his long-term disability (LTD) benefits, a former emergency room physician’s assistant who says he “underwent a PET/CT scan that indicated Alzheimer’s dementia” argues in part that discovery from other lawsuits has shown that the insurer’s reviewer “denies 85-90% of all disability claims she reviews.”
May 13, 2025
Insurer Appeals Dismissal Of Subrogation Claims In Suit Over Ransomware Attack

WILMINGTON, Del. — An insurer filed a notice indicating it is appealing a Delaware judge’s grant of an application service provider’s motion to dismiss with prejudice its amended complaint, challenging the judge’s finding that it failed to properly assert subrogation claims seeking recovery from the provider for the amount paid to nonprofit insureds for investigative and remediation steps arising from a ransomware attack.
May 13, 2025
After LTD Case Remand To Plan, Parties Dispute Attorney Fee Request

SAN FRANCISCO — Parties in a long-term disability (LTD) benefits case are disputing a $139,650 attorney fee request, with the claimant contending that “a remand for further administrative proceedings is not a trivial success where it is based on a court determination that ERISA rights were violated,” and the defendant arguing in part that no award is warranted under Hummel v. S.E. Rykoff & Co.
May 12, 2025
Hotel Owner Seeks Review Of No Coverage Ruling In Dispute Over Derecho Damage

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — A hotel owner told an Illinois federal court that it is appealing the court’s April 3 judgment in favor of a businessowners insurer in its breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for damage to the hotel arising from a 2020 derecho, challenging the court’s finding that it failed to provide prompt notice of the claim.
May 07, 2025
Breach Of Contract, Declaratory Judgment Counterclaims Filed Against Reinsurer

NEW YORK — A life insurer and its parent company filed two counterclaims in a federal court in New York, seeking declaratory judgment on the definition of a lapsed client under its transaction agreement with a reinsurer and alleging a breach of contract for the reinsurer’s alleged failure to cooperate in reviewing documents related to a disputed $50 million post-closure bonus payout.
May 07, 2025
Coverage Barred For Insured’s Disposal Of Asbestos-Containing Debris, Insurer Says

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — No coverage is owed for an underlying suit stemming from the insureds’ alleged improper disposal of construction debris because the policy’s asbestos and pollution exclusions clearly bar coverage, an insurer maintains in a reply in support of its motion for summary judgment and opposition to the underlying plaintiff’s cross-motion for summary judgment.
May 06, 2025
U.S. Opposes Summary Judgment, Dismissal In Captive Insurance Tax Shelter Dispute

PITTSBURGH — The U.S. government asked a federal court in Pennsylvania to reject a Pittsburgh-based corporation’s motion to dismiss the government’s counterclaim and motion for summary judgment, arguing that the company’s reliance on a prior U.S. Supreme Court ruling is misplaced in a dispute over penalties tied to the corporation’s alleged promotion of a tax shelter through a purported captive insurance program.
May 06, 2025
Policyholder’s Motion To Intervene Was Untimely, Life Insurer’s Rehabilitator Says

WATERBURY, Conn. — The rehabilitator of life insurer PHL Variable Insurance Co. and the subsidiaries that reinsure its liabilities urged a Connecticut state court to deny as untimely a motion to intervene filed by two policyholders who say their policies are worth millions and want a moratorium order to be modified to pay death benefits on a pari passu basis.
May 05, 2025
Insurer Seeks 11th Circuit Review Of Lawyers’ Professional Liability Coverage Suit

ATLANTA —A professional liability insurer asked the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse a lower federal court’s dismissal of its lawsuit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify an attorney and law firm against an underlying legal malpractice lawsuit, arguing that “oral argument would materially assist” the 11th Circuit “in understanding the proper application of the misappropriation exclusion” in its policy.