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Mealey's Reinsurance

  • October 24, 2025

    Reinsurer Seeks Reconsideration Of Summary Judgment Ruling In Indemnification Dispute

    BOSTON — A reinsurer involved in a dispute over liabilities arising from a 2005 transfer and assumption agreement and a 2007 stock purchase agreement (SPA) moved for reconsideration of a Massachusetts federal judge’s summary judgment ruling, contending that the judge misapprehended its expert evidence and overlooked material facts showing that a 2012 transfer of assets and liabilities constituted novation under standard insurance industry practice.

  • October 22, 2025

    N.C. High Court Finds Review Of Insurance Fraud Ruling ‘Improvidently Allowed’

    RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Supreme Court issued an opinion stating that its prior discretionary review was “improvidently allowed” regarding an appeal by the purchaser of insurers in liquidation or rehabilitation of an appellate court’s decision affirming a ruling finding liability for fraud in a breach of contract suit.

  • October 21, 2025

    Tax Firm Seeks To Compel IRS Record Filing, Citing Order In Parallel Case

    DALLAS — A tax firm filed a notice of supplemental authority in a Texas federal court in support of its pending motion to compel the Internal Revenue Service to file the administrative record in its challenge to the agency’s final rule on microcaptive insurance arrangements, citing a judge’s order in a parallel case involving the same final rule that directed the IRS to produce the administrative record.

  • October 21, 2025

    Summary Judgment Granted To Insurer; Bad Faith, Fraud Claims Dismissed

    JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi federal magistrate judge entered final judgment dismissing a pro se employee’s bad faith and fraudulent misrepresentation claims with prejudice after granting an insurer’s summary judgment motion, finding that the state’s statutory workers’ compensation exclusivity provision precludes any recovery, that the employee failed to obtain a Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission determination declaring entitlement to disputed temporary total disability (TTD) benefits and that her fraud allegations lacked particularity.

  • October 20, 2025

    Chemical Company Says Settlement Reached In Coverage Suit Arising From Explosion

    BEAUMONT, Texas — A sustainable chemical company insured filed a notice in a Texas federal court indicating that it has reached a settlement with its insurer of its breach of contract and declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking to obtain coverage for the full value of its business interruption loss caused by an explosion at a Texas plant.

  • October 15, 2025

    Insurer Contends That $7M Reinsurance Dispute Should Be Arbitrated, Not Litigated

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As part of a reinsurance dispute over the permissibility of a $7 million letter of credit (LOC) drawdown, an insurer says in a reply filed in a North Carolina federal court that the credit was issued to fund a reinsurer’s obligations under multiple reinsurance contracts, including a 2021 excess of loss (XOL) contract, and contends that because the dispute arises from that agreement, its arbitration clause requires the claims to be resolved through arbitration rather than in court.

  • October 15, 2025

    California ‘Insurer Of Last Resort’ Sued For Alleged Wrongful Denial Of Claim

    LOS ANGELES — A homeowner whose property is covered by the California FAIR Plan sued the insurance pool in state court, alleging that the state’s “insurer of last resort” unlawfully denied coverage for fire, smoke and contamination damage in violation of California insurance law after his home was damaged in the Eaton Fire.

  • October 14, 2025

    Insurance Holding Company Sues Captive Operator, Seeks Preliminary Injunction

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An insurance holding company seeks a preliminary injunction in a Florida federal court against a captive operator and its associated entities it accuses of counterfeiting its name and trademarks to sell fake commercial insurance policies through two purported captive programs; in a concurrent complaint, the insurance holding company alleges direct, contributory and vicarious trademark infringement under the Lanham Act and unfair competition under several state common laws and seeks declaratory and injunctive relief.

  • October 10, 2025

    Claims Objection Bar Date Extended By 180 Days In Vesttoo Liquidation

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware extended the claims objection bar date in the Chapter 11 liquidation of Vesttoo Ltd. and its dozens of affiliates by 180 days to April 6, 2026, finding that additional time will benefits all involved parties after the liquidated reinsurance provider cited a need for more time to generate proceeds and reconcile claims.

  • October 09, 2025

    Pa. Federal Magistrate Recommends Dismissing Pension Risk Transfer Case

    PITTSBURGH — Agreeing with two of the five recent rulings in similar Employee Retirement Income Security Act putative class actions and citing Thole v. U.S. Bank N.A., a Pennsylvania federal magistrate judge recommended dismissing a pension risk transfer (PRT) challenge for lack of standing on the grounds that none of their three claimed injuries pass muster.

  • October 09, 2025

    Proceedings In IRS Penalty Dispute Stayed Following U.S. Government Shutdown

    PITTSBURGH — Proceedings in a federal tax penalty dispute between a corporation and the U.S. government over the alleged promotion of a captive insurance tax shelter have been stayed under a districtwide order issued following the lapse in federal appropriations, which temporarily halts civil litigation involving the United States until funding resumes.

  • October 08, 2025

    Program Manager Claims Insurer Concealed Quota Share Agreement, Cut Commissions

    NEW YORK — A program manager filed a verified complaint in a New York federal court bringing claims against an insurer for breach of contract and declaratory relief on allegations that the insurer discretely maintained a quota share reinsurance arrangement (QSRA) that eliminated all losses used to calculate commissions, resulting in years of underpayments in violation of their program management agreement (PMA).

  • October 08, 2025

    Motion To Disclose Policyholder Data Granted In Insurance Conspiracy Case

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina federal magistrate judge granted a court-appointed special master’s consent motion to compel disclosure of policyholder data and for a protective order in a case in which insurance magnate Greg Lindberg pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy for his $2 billion scheme to defraud insurers and policyholders by funneling money through his extensive global network of insurance companies.  Lindberg was also convicted on retrial in a related criminal proceeding.

  • October 07, 2025

    N.C. Business Judge Denies Third-Party Claims Dismissal In Captive Insurer Dispute

    LINCOLNTON, N.C. — A North Carolina business court judge denied dismissal of third-party claims in a shareholder action involving a captive insurer, finding that allegations that former executives created a competing insurance company, diverted company resources and made defamatory statements to state regulators were sufficient to establish jurisdiction over the competing company.

  • October 06, 2025

    Federal Circuit Affirms That Monetary Obligations Are Not Compensable Takings

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Court of Federal Claims ruling, holding that contributions to the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Transitional Reinsurance Program (TRP) are a statutory obligation to pay money rather than a compensable taking under the Fifth Amendment, and that two self-insured group health plan trusts failed to show that the U.S. government appropriated their property.

  • October 06, 2025

    Judge: Retirees In PRT Challenge Have Standing But Didn’t State Claims

    BOSTON — Overruling objections from each party in a putative class action that is part of a wave of challenges to pension risk transfers (PRTs), a Massachusetts federal judge granted dismissal motions upon concluding that the plaintiff retirees narrowly have standing because of allegations that they “received an inferior financial benefit than that to which they were entitled” — but failed to state their claims.

  • October 03, 2025

    Summary Judgment Partially Granted, Partially Denied In Indemnification Dispute

    BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge partially granted summary judgment in favor of an insurer on its two declaratory relief claims, holding that a reinsurer’s obligations under a stock purchase agreement (SPA) and reinsurance agreement were not novated, waived or barred, but denied summary judgment on the insurer’s breach of contract claims after finding that the record did not conclusively establish damages.

  • October 02, 2025

    N.Y. Federal Judge Compels Arbitration In Escrow Dispute, Denies Dismissal Bid

    ALBANY, N.Y. — A New York federal judge compelled arbitration among a borrower, an insurer, the insurer’s CEO and a liaison of the insurer, holding that the borrower, seeking to recover a $1 million escrow deposit tied to a failed $5 million loan, brought claims under an insurance policy containing an arbitration clause, thereby binding the insurer, CEO and liaison to arbitration.

  • September 29, 2025

    COMMENTARY: Exceptions To The Custom And Practice Of Follow The Settlements: Improper Claim Handling And Allocation

    By Robert M. Hall

  • September 30, 2025

    New York Federal Judge Deepens Standing Split In Series Of PRT Challenges

    NEW YORK — Days after a different New York federal judge dismissed a similar pension risk transfer (PRT) complaint for lack of standing, a New York federal judge on Sept. 29 largely declined to dismiss a putative class case, ruling that retirees have standing because they sufficiently alleged that the PRT “created a substantial risk that Plaintiffs will not receive their benefits” and “diminished the value of Plaintiffs’ benefits.”

  • September 30, 2025

    Discovery Stayed Pending Resolution Of Dismissal Motions In Reinsurance Dispute

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware state vice chancellor granted a stay of discovery pending the resolution of motions to dismiss in three related cases concerning a disputed captive reinsurance pool, holding that the filing defendants demonstrated good cause under the court’s rules and concluding that, with dispositive motions pending and no special circumstances justifying immediate discovery, a pause was necessary to prevent undue burden and expense.

  • September 26, 2025

    Reinsurer, Agency Allege RICO Scheme Inflated Injury Claims And Insurance Costs

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A reinsurer and management general agency allege in a New York federal court that numerous doctors and medical providers engaged in a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) scheme in which they had workers stage construction accidents and exaggerate minor injuries to generate fraudulent workers’ compensation and liability claims to drive up settlement values and insurance costs.

  • September 25, 2025

    A 2nd Pension Risk Transfer Case Is Dismissed For Lack Of Standing

    ALBANY, N.Y. — Nearly six months after the first two rulings on dismissal motions in a much-watched recent set of putative class actions challenging pension risk transfers (PRTs) that retirees allege increase the possibility that they won’t get all of their promised benefits because of factors including offshore captive reinsurance, a New York federal judge issued the third ruling on Sept. 24, granting dismissal without prejudice for failure “to plausibly allege any injury-in-fact sufficient to establish standing.”

  • September 25, 2025

    Summary Judgment Bid, Dismissal Of Counterclaim Denied In IRS Penalty Case

    PITTSBURGH — A Pennsylvania federal judge denied a corporation’s motion to dismiss a counterclaim filed by the U.S. government and motion for summary judgment in a dispute over the alleged promotion of a tax shelter through a captive insurance arrangement, ruling that while the IRS penalties at issue implicate the Seventh Amendment, the statutory scheme is constitutional because the corporation may seek de novo jury trial review in federal court.

  • September 25, 2025

    180-Day Extension Of Claims Objection Bar Date Requested In Vesttoo Liquidation

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal bankruptcy court has been asked to extend the claims objection bar date in the Chapter 11 liquidation of Vesttoo Ltd. and its dozens of affiliates by 180 days to April 6, 2026, with the beleaguered reinsurance provider citing a need for more time to generate proceeds and reconcile claims.