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The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance issued a memorandum regarding changes to the New York tax laws affecting insurance independently procured from unauthorized insurers in order to conform New York law to the requirements of the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010. …
Read More New Tax Form for Insurance Independently Procured From Unauthorized Insurer in New York

German insurance giant Munich Re recently reported that Japan’s earthquake and tsunami in March will make 2011 the costliest year on record for natural disasters.  Total economic losses for the first six months alone were $265 billion, making it the costliest natural catastrophe on record. …
Read More Munich Re Reports 2011 Costliest Year on Record for Natural Disasters

Reinsurance broker Holborn reported that losses from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami could reach an all-time high for reinsurers at $30 billion, according to a recent article in the Insurance Insider. Holburn estimates reinsurers’ share of losses from the Japan disaster at between $20 billion and $30 billion out of the disaster’s total gross loss estimated at $40 billion to $65 billion. …
Read More Japan Reinsurance Losses Estimated at $30 Billion

n a case of first impression, New Jersey’s highest court has determined that policyholders’ bad-faith claims against their insurance company for failure to settle within policy limits are traditional contract claims that give insureds the right to a trial by jury. …
Read More New Jersey High Court: Insureds Entitled to Jury Trial on Bad-Faith Claims

Addressing apportionment issues left unresolved by the California Supreme Court’s decision in Montrose Chemical Corporation v. Admiral Insurance Company, 10 Cal.4th 645 (1995), California’s intermediate appeals court has ruled that an insured that manufactured asbestos-containing products must first exhaust the limits of all of its primary insurance before it may claim benefits under its excess coverage. …
Read More California Court Requires Complete Horizontal Exhaustion of Liability Coverage Before Excess Coverage Can Attach

On July 12, 2011, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2011, H.R. 1309 (the “Act”), by a vote of 406 to 22.  As we previously reported, the Act has been endorsed by President Obama.  The goal of the Act is to the reform to the National Flood Insurance Plan (“NFIP”) in order to help reduce the more than $18 billion debt carried by the NFIP. …
Read More NFIP Reform Passes House, Heads to Senate

The Supreme Judicial Court recently rejected a direct summary judgment appeal from AIG Domestic Claims, Inc. (“AIG”) concerning AIG’s handling of a workers’ compensation claim. The plaintiff alleged, inter alia, that AIG acted outside the claims-handling process by improperly pursuing criminal insurance fraud charges against him. …
Read More Insurer Falls Short in Bad Faith Summary Judgment Bid Before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

The Associated Press reports that Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood is suing Kenneth Feinberg, administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF), BP Plc’s (BP) $20 billion oil spill fund to get access to claims filed by coastal residents. …
Read More Deepwater Horizon: Mississippi AG Files Lawsuit Against BP Alleging Misconduct With Its $20 Billion Claim Fund