On Monday, October 29, the Supreme Court declined a petition for certiorari from a Third Circuit decision in Santomenno v. John Hancock Life Insurance Company in which Ms. Santomenno and her fellow former plan beneficiaries brought claims against John Hancock under ERISA and the ICA, claiming that John Hancock charged their retirement plans excessive fees on annuity insurance contracts offered to plan participants. …
Read More UPDATE: Supreme Court Will Not Hear Appeal of 401(k) Fee Suit Involving Insurers’ ERISA Plans

In Stuart Goodman and Margaret Goodman v Central Capital Limited [2012] EWHC B8 (Mercantile), the court considered a claim brought by the claimants (the Goodmans) in respect of their purchase of a Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) policy through Central Capital Limited (CCL) in relation to a loan agreement. …
Read More UK: Court Throws Out PPI Claim, Favouring Contemporaneous Evidence Over Claimant Witness Statements

In view of the increasing popularity of outsourcing customer-related and back-office business activities by financial service institutions to other parties as a means of reducing costs and achieving strategic aims, the Hong Kong Insurance Authority (HKIA) recently issued a Guidance Note on Outsourcing (GN14). …
Read More Hong Kong: Insurance Authority Issued Guidance Note on Outsourcing (GN14)

The Government launched on 26 October 2012 a three-month public consultation on key legislative amendments to the Insurance Companies Ordinance (Cap.41) (ICO) for the establishment of an independent Insurance Authority (IIA). …
Read More Hong Kong: Public Consultation on Key Legislative Amendments to the Insurance Companies Ordinance

On October 15, 2012, Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Thomas B. Leonardi announced a thirty (30) day public comment period in connection with the National Council on Compensation Insurance, Inc.’s (NCCI) filing for proposed 2013 voluntary loss costs and assigned risk rates. …
Read More Connecticut Insurance Department Requests Public Comments on NCCI’s Proposed Rate Increases

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that the statute of repose created under the General Aviation Revitalization Act (“GARA”) provides an aircraft’s individual component parts’ manufacturers the same protections as the aircraft manufacturer itself, even where the part in question is used and becomes incorporated on a later delivered aircraft that is not entitled to protection. …
Read More When Used Parts are as Good as New – Ninth Circuit Rules GARA’s Statute of Repose Trigger Date Applies Equally to Both

On October 24, 2012, the Appeals Court of Massachusetts affirmed that an excess insurer’s liability extends only to the amount of loss that exceeds the amount of coverage available from underlying insurance, and not, under usual circumstances, to the total amount of loss. …
Read More Massachusetts Appeals Court Rejects Insured’s Bid For Recovery of Hurricane Katrina Losses Exceeding Stated Property Value Under Excess Policy

In Ace European Ltd & 5 ors v (1) Howden Group (2) Howden North America Inc (formerly Howden Buffalo Inc) [2012] EWHC 2427 (Comm), Mr Justice Field upheld his prior order granting permission to the claimant insurers (the Claimants), to serve proceedings seeking declaratory relief, out of the jurisdiction. …
Read More UK: ACE and Others to Serve Proceedings on Howden Out of Jurisdiction

In Parker and Parker v National Farmers Union Mutual Insurance Society Ltd [2012] EWHC 2156 (Comm), the High Court held that the Defendant insurers, National Farmers Union (NFU), could not avoid the claim of the First Claimant, Mrs. Parker, for the non-disclosure of the Second Claimant, Mr. Parker. The claim related to damage caused to a property and its contents by fire. …
Read More UK: Breach of a Condition Precedent Sufficient for Defendant Insurer to Avoid a Claim and Successfully Counterclaim

PHYSICIAN GROUPS PROPOSE PERMANENT “DOC FIX”
In an October 15 letter, the American Medical Association (AMA) and more than 100 other medical societies and physicians’ organizations urged Congress to consider a permanent replacement for the Medicare physician payment system. Under the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula used for Medicare Fee Schedule payments, doctors’ reimbursements for services are scheduled to be cut by 27% as of January 1, 2013. …
Read More Healthcare Update: Physician Groups Propose Permanent “Doc Fix”; HIPAA/HITECH Enforcement Expected to Increase in 2013