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Mealey's Reinsurance

  • October 30, 2025

    2nd Circuit Affirms That Insurrection Triggered CITGO Marine Reinsurance Coverage

    NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed a lower court ruling that granted a $54.2 million judgment to CITGO Petroleum Corp., holding that the 2020 seizure of crude oil at a Venezuelan port arose from an “insurrection” as defined in its marine cargo reinsurance contract and that losses from the seizure were accordingly covered under the contract’s war risk provisions.

  • October 29, 2025

    Insurer Says Bad Faith Complaint Is Mooted By Arbitration Award Payout

    LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — An insurer claims in an Arkansas federal court that a crop insurance lawsuit filed by two farmers should be dismissed as moot, asserting it already paid the arbitration award the farmers seek to confirm and that any additional claims are barred by the arbitration proceeding; in their complaint, the farmers accuse the insurer of bad faith and breach of contract in connection with the denial of coverage for their weather-related crop losses.

  • October 29, 2025

    Insurer, Reinsurer Reach Settlement In Principle In Dispute Over Withheld Funds

    CHICAGO — Days after denying a motion to stay proceedings, an Illinois federal judge noted in a minute entry that an insurer and reinsurer have reached a settlement in principle in a dispute in which the reinsurer claims that the insurer breached their reinsurance agreement by withholding funds owed under contractual liability insurance policies issued to a service contract provider.

  • October 28, 2025

    Injunction Granted, Trademark Use Enjoined In Counterfeit Insurance Policy Dispute

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida granted a preliminary injunction to an insurance holding company barring a captive operator and its affiliates from using the holding company’s name and trademarks in connection with allegedly unauthorized insurance policies and certificates of insurance.

  • October 28, 2025

    IRS Seeks Summary Judgment, Claims Final Rule Complies With Statutory Authority

    KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Internal Revenue Service, in a cross-motion for summary judgment filed in a Tennessee federal court, argues that its disputed final rule governing small captive insurance arrangements was lawfully issued under its statutory authority, imposes only disclosure obligations and satisfies the Administrative Procedure Act’s (APA) requirement for a reasoned explanation, in response to a captive insurance manager’s challenge seeking to set aside the regulation as unlawful and in excess of the agency’s authority.

  • 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.”