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In an important recent decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, testing the outer reaches of a bankruptcy court’s jurisdiction, In re Johns Manville Corp., 06-2099 (2d Cir. Feb. 15, 2008), the court considered whether claims that are not derivative of a debtor’s liability, but rather seek to recover directly from an insurer for its own alleged misconduct, can be enjoined by the “channeling” mechanism developed by the bankruptcy court. 

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Read More Second Circuit Rules Bankruptcy Court Cannot Enjoin All Claims Against Insurer

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) issued a press release last week announcing completion of its membership-wide producer licensing assessment.  This assessment, conducted by a group of volunteer regulators, examined and verified compliance with the NAIC’s 2002 reciprocity standards, state adoption of the Producer Licensing Model Act, and adoption of the Uniform Resident Licensing Standards. 

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Read More NAIC Producer Licensing Assessment

Recently, in Nationwide Mutual Ins. Co. v. Randall & Quilter Reinsurance Co., No. C2-07-120 (S.D. Ohio, Jan. 24, 2008), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio examined the scope of a court’s authority to confirm arbitration awards and orders under Section 9 of the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”). 

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Read More Federal Court Denies Reinsurer’s Motion to Enforce Confidentiality Order, Vacate Arbitration Award

Earlier this month, Rhode Island’s Lt. Governor, Elizabeth Roberts, proposed the Healthy Rhode Island Reform Act of 2008.  Among other things, Part V of the proposed act, commonly known as the “play or pay” proposal, requires employers in Rhode Island to either provide employee health benefits or to contribute to a state fund that will cover the uninsured up to a certain level. …
Read More Rhode Island’s Play or Pay Proposal

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York recently held that an arbitrator was not precluded by the doctrine of functus officio from modifying his findings regarding a prior award in a dispute between parties, since that award did not resolve the question of damages related to a particular issue and thus was not “final.”

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Read More Federal Court Confirms Arbitration Award, Finding that Arbitrator did not Exceed His Powers in Amending a Portion of a Prior Award Regarding a Reinsurer’s Liability for Payments Made by its Cedent

In a recently released revenue ruling, the IRS has established procedures for determining if insurance written through protected cell companies constitutes insurance for federal income tax purposes.  This is a result of the previously issued Notice 2005-49, in which the IRS requested comments from the public on this issue.  Concurrently, the IRS issued Notice 2008-19, in which it is requesting comments from the public on guidance regarding the issues that arise if such arrangements actually do constitute insurance. …
Read More IRS Requests Comments on a Revenue Ruling Concerning Taxation of Protected Cell Captive Arrangements

On Thursday, the Florida House Committee unanimously passed a bill backed by Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink requiring insurer’s that buy into the state’s catastrophe fund to purchase reinsurance from the private market.  It was estimated that the bill, which was backed by Republican’s such as Ron Reagan, could inject as much as $3 billion of limits back to the private reinsurance market. …
Read More Florida House Committee Passes Legislation to Expand Private Reinsurance Market

A New York state appellate court recently held that an insured’s failure to notify its insurer of an occurrence and the possibility of a claim until eight months after an accident breached the notice requirement of the liability policy in question. 

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Read More New York Appellate Court: Eight Month Delay in Notice of Occurrence Breached Policy Condition Precedent Even Without Showing of Prejudice

A New York appellate court recently held that factual issues should have precluded summary judgment for a subcontractor and its insurer concerning whether they were obligated to provide defense and indemnification to a general contractor pursuant to the subcontract entered into between the general contractor and subcontractor. 

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Read More New York Appellate Court: Question of Fact Concerning Additional Insured Obligations Precludes Summary Judgment

A New York appellate court recently held that a coverage action was not rendered merely “academic” by the dismissal of the underlying property damage action because the insured continued to have a claim for litigation expenses incurred in defense of the underlying action. …
Read More New York Appellate Court: Insurer Not Entitled to Dismissal of Coverage Action Just Because Underlying Suit Is Dismissed