Earlier this week, California enacted Assembly Bill 315 which allows California to implement provisions of the federal Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010 (the “NRRA”). …
Read More California Enacts Legislation Implementing Provisions of NRRA

A recent ruling in John Youngs Insurance Services Ltd v Aviva Insurance Services UK Ltd [2011] EWHC 1515 (TCC) addressed the issue of whether a fiduciary duty arose in an agreement to provide insurance claims handling services. …
Read More UK: High Court Rules on Issue of Fiduciary Duty in Insurance Claims Handling Agreements

In Sovarex SA v Romero Alvarez SA [2010] Folio 1231, Mr Justice Hamblen held that the court had the power to direct that there be a determination of disputed facts under the procedure set out in s66 of the Arbitration Act 1996 (the Act) for the enforcement of arbitral awards. …
Read More UK: High Court Rules on Applicability of Procedure Under s66 of Arbitration Act 1996 to Disputed Issues of Fact

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

On June 22, 2011, New York Insurance Commissioner James Wrynn signed a statement re-adopting Regulation No. 187 governing suitability in annuity transactions (the “Regulation”) on an emergency basis. …
Read More New York Re-adopts Suitability Rule on an Emergency Basis

In Garnat Trading & Shipping (Singapore) PTE LTD (GARNAT) and Vung Tau Shipbuilding Industry Joint Stock Company (Vung Tau) v Baominh Insurance Corporation (Baominh) [2010] EWHC 2578 (Comm), the Court of Appeal considered the first instance judgment of Mr Justice Clarke which we previously reported here. …
Read More UK: Marine Insurance – Non-Disclosure and Seaworthiness

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