Jurisdictions

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In jurisdictions that impose on an insurer a common-law duty of good faith and fair dealing and a statutory duty not to act vexatiously or unreasonably, an insurer may be found to have violated one duty even if it did not violate the other. The Eighth Circuit recently handed down a ruling serving as an example of this principle. In Tripp v. Western National Mutual Insurance Co., the Court of Appeals affirmed post-judgment relief based on South Dakota’s statutory prohibition against unreasonable or vexatious behavior by an insurer.   …
Read More Client Advisory – Federal Court of Appeals Affirms Statutory Bad-Faith Liability Imposed on Insurer Despite Jury’s Refusal to Find Liability for Common-Law Bad Faith

By March 1, 2012, companies with personal information of Massachusetts residents must amend their existing contracts with vendors that handle such information to require the vendors’ compliance with the Massachusetts data security regulations. …
Read More Client Advisory – March 1 Deadline for Companies and Vendors with Massachusetts Personal Information

In Mary Harvey v. Motor Insurers’ Bureau (QBD (Merc) (Manchester), Claim No: 0MA40077, 21 December 2011), the High Court held that it was not appropriate to grant leave to appeal an arbitrator’s decision that the victim of a road traffic accident was not entitled to compensation for personal injury under s.69 the Arbitration Act 1996 (the Act) (s.69 of the Act only allows appeals to be made where the arbitrator has made some error of law). …
Read More UK: High Court Confirms That Bringing Appeals of Fact Disguised as Appeals of Law Under s.69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 Will Not be Entertained

Over the years, there has been much debate that the practice of the insurance market in allowing an insurance broker (acting as the agent of the assured) to receive commission from the insurer may contravene the equitable principle that an agent cannot make a profit from his office without disclosing the profit to his principal (the assured). …
Read More Hong Kong: Landmark Decision on Disclosure of Insurance Brokerage Commission

On 12 January 2012, a vote by the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament on the Omnibus II Directive was delayed until 21 March 2012. When adopted, Omnibus II will make significant changes to the Solvency II Directive. The vote had previously been rescheduled from 20 December 2011 to 24 January 2012. …
Read More EU: Solvency II Faces Possible Further Delay

Recent comments by a UK Commercial Court judge indicate that policyholders are entitled to “spike” their entire liability for a mesothelioma claim into any one year of employers’ liability (EL) cover. Spiking potentially arises where the period of EL cover is shorter than the period of negligent exposure to asbestos. …
Read More UK: Commercial Court in London Comments on “Spiking” Mesothelioma Claims

On December 28, 2011, the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance (the “Department”) issued Bulletin 11-31 (the “Bulletin”) revising standards for equity indexed annuities (EIA), which are annuity contracts with a value based on performance of a specified equity-based index (or indices).  The Bulletin comes in response to the evolution of EIA product designs, and in light of prevailing low interest rates. …
Read More New Jersey Issues Bulletin Revising Standards for Equity Indexed Annuity Products