In Koransky, Bouwer & Poracky, P.C. v. The Bar Plan Mutual Ins. Co., No. 12-1579 (7th Cir. Apr. 2, 2013), the Seventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment against an Indiana law firm and in favor of its malpractice insurer, as the firm’s notice of claim to the insurer was untimely. 
Read More The Seventh Circuit Bars Malpractice Coverage for an Insured Law Firm Despite the Firm’s Subjective Belief That it Represented its Client Correctly

At the Spring Meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the NAIC Reinsurance Task Force announced that the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) requested that the NAIC conduct a survey on access to reinsurance data. 
Read More NAIC to Conduct Survey on Access to Reinsurance Data on Behalf of FIO

On April 17, 2013, the Florida Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance approved SPB 7152 as committee bill SB 1888 (the “Bill”). The Bill would eliminate Florida’s no-fault personal injury protection (“PIP”) coverage requirements, which were reformed just last year as the result of serious negotiations. 
Read More Florida Senate Committee Approves Bill Repealing No-Fault Law

On April 3, 2013, the Federal Reserve Board (“FRB”) approved a final rule (“Final Rule”) that establishes (1) definitions of the terms “significant nonbank financial company” (or, more commonly referred to as SIFIs or “systemically important financial institutions”) and “significant bank holding company,” and (2) the requirements for determining when a company is “predominantly engaged in financial activities.” 
Read More FRB Issues Final Rule on SIFIs

For insurers doing business in Florida, a recent appellate court decision reaffirms the importance of a timely offer of settlement even in extremely challenging conditions to protect against bad-faith liability. 
Read More Florida Appellate Court Decision Increases Pressure On Insurers To Settle Claims In Order To Avoid Potential Bad Faith

In the recent case of Alliance of Nonprofits for Ins. v. Scott J. Kipper, et al., the Ninth Circuit determined that the Liability Risk Retention Act of 1986 (“LRRA”) preempted an order issued in 2010 by the Nevada Insurance Commissioner barring the Alliance of Nonprofits for Insurance Risk Retention Group (the “Alliance”) from issuing first dollar automobile insurance policies (the “Order”). The LRRA is a federal law which authorizes risk retention groups (“RRG”) to provide liability insurance coverage. 
Read More Foreign Risk Retention Groups Permitted to Issue Automobile Liability Insurance in Nevada to Satisfy Statutory Minimum Coverage Requirements

This updates our December 3, 2012 blog post.

Attorneys from Edwards Wildman attended the Principle-Based Reserving Implementation (EX) Task Force (“Task Force”) meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) in Houston on April 6, 2013, where the Task Force released a new draft of its principle-based reserving (“PBR”) implementation plan (“Plan”) for comment. 
Read More NAIC Releases PBR Implementation Plan for Comment

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”), part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, has proposed new rules to create conflict-of-interest standards applicable to navigators. Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “Act”), navigators will assist consumers in obtaining coverage from health insurance exchanges to be established under the Act. 
Read More New Rules Proposed to Prohibit Persons Connected with Stop-Loss Insurance Coverage from being Health Insurance Exchange Navigators; New Disclosure Requirements also Proposed