Information is now available regarding Mealey's 14th Annual Insurance Insolvency & Reinsurance Roundtable, to be held April 25-28, 2007, at The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess in Phoenix, Arizona.
UK Court of Appeal discusses appeal process in context of reinsurance arbitration
The UK Court of Appeals has issued an opinion that discusses the appeal process in the UK, in the context of the appeal of an arbitration award in a reinsurance dispute. The reinsurance is irrelevant to this decision, which is interesting if one wishes to see how the UK appeal process works. CGU International Ins. PLC v. AstraZeneca Ins. Co., [2006] EWCA Civ 1340 (Oct. 16, 2006).
Court refuses to imply follow the fortunes doctrine into reinsurance agreements
In a matter involving the reinsurance of asbestos-related risks, a District Court has followed what it considered to be both the majority rule, and the better reasoned path, declining to imply the follow the fortunes doctrine into reinsurance agreements, where the facultative reinsurance agreements did not contain such a provision. The Court then denied summary judgment to the reinsured, finding that there were disputed issues of material fact as to whether certain excess insurance had been exhausted, a requirement for the applicability of the reinsurance, and whether an exclusion applied. The American Ins. Co. v. American Re-Ins. Co., Case No. 05-01218 (USDC N.D. Cal. Nov. 27, 2006). Shortly after this opinion was entered, the parties notified the Court that they had reached a settlement of their disputes.
Court upholds settlement of claims affecting reinsurance in liquidation of The Home
The New Hampshire Supreme Court has upheld a settlement of disputes and claims involving insureds and reinsureds of The Home Insurance Company, which was placed in liquidation by the New Hampshire Commissioner of Insurance. Some of The Home's reinsurers opposed the settlement. The Court upheld the settlement as within the authority of the liquidator and the Court, and fair and reasonable. This process is interesting in part because the settlement had to be approved by creditors of The Home, by a Court in the UK and by the UK's insurance regulatory body, the Financial Services Agency. In the Matter of the Liquidation of The Home Ins. Co., Case No. 2005-740 (N.H. Dec. 5, 2006).
Court interprets policy in direct action against reinsurer
A truck leased from Ryder TRS was involved in an accident, and Frontier Insurance Company provided coverage for the truck. After Frontier was declared insolvent, a party to the accident pursued claims under the policy against Clarendon Insurance Company, which had provided reinsurance to Frontier. The New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld an interpretation of the insurance policy proposed by Clarendon, which limited Clarendon's liability. This opinion discusses some of the general principles of policy interpretation. Warner v. Clarendon Ins. Co., Case No. 2005-415 (N.H. Nov. 2, 2006).