The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has affirmed the District Court's decision with respect to coverage for the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers. The District Court held that the attack consituted a single occurrence with respect to some of the insurance, and two occurrences with respect to other insurance. SR International Business Insur. Co. v. World Trade Center Properties, LLC, Case No. 04-4500 (2nd Cir. Oct. 18, 2006).
NAIC collateral proposal proceeds towards a vote
The NAIC's Reinsurance Task Force is proceeding towards an anticipated final vote in early 2007 on a proposal to change the indirect regulation of non-admitted reinsurers, which currently allows U.S. reinsureds to take statutory credit on their balance sheet for reinsurance only if such reinsurance obligations are 100% collateralized. The Task Force's web page contains the current red-lined version of the U.S. Reinsurance Collateral White Paper and Rating Proposal: an alternative procedure to grant credit for ceded reinsurance.
Court enforces contractual arbitrator appointment procedure and holds that arbitrators should decide whether to consolidate multiple arbitrations
A District Court has entered an Order to enforce the contractually agreed-upon procedure for appointing a third arbitrator in an insurance matter, setting deadlines for each step of the process. The Court also held that whether arbitrations regarding four different insurance agreements should be consolidated was a matter to be decided by the arbitrators. Clearwater Insurance Co. v. Granite State Insurance Co., Case No. 06-4472 (USDC N.D. Cal. Oct. 2, 2006).
Court enforces agreement regarding appointment of arbitrators
A District Court has entered an Order to enforce the contractually agreed-upon procedure for appointing a third arbitrator in an insurance matter, setting deadlines for each step of the process. The Court also held that whether arbitrations regarding four different insurance agreements should be consolidated was a matter to be decided by the arbitrators. Clearwater Insurance Co. v. Granite State Insurance Co., Case No. 06-4472 (USDC N.D. Cal. Oct. 2, 2006).
UK Court permits substitution of party in arbitration and expanded damage request
The UK Commercial Court has approved an arbitrator's decision to permit the substitution of one Claimant for another to reflect what in effect was a corporate reorganization. It also permitted the Claimant to use a pending arbitration to seek an award of all balances that would come due under the treaty during the pendency of the arbitration, instead of requiring a filing of separate arbitrations for amounts that became due after the commencement of the pending arbitration. Harper Versicherungs AG v. Indemnity Marine Assurance Co., [2006] EWHC 1500 (QB) (June 23, 2006).