On May 21, 2009, Representative Ron Klein (D-FL) reintroduced the Homeowners’ Defense Act of 2009, H.R. 2555 (the “Act”), which would allow states to join a national catastrophe insurance pool and would potentially reduce the cost and improve the availability of homeowners’ insurance in Florida and in other states.  As we reported here, the Act is similar to the legislation previously passed in the House, but failed to gain Senate support in 2007 and 2008. 

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Read More Representative Ron Klein (D-FL) Reintroduces the Homeowners’ Defense Act

The Tennessee Court of Appeals recently reversed a trial court and held that an insurer did not have a duty to defend under parents’ homeowners’ policy because coverage for childrens’ act of shooting at passing trucks on a highway was barred by the policy’s intentional acts exclusion. 

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Read More Tennessee Court of Appeals Holds That Intentional Acts Exclusion Bars Coverage for Children Shooting at Trucks on Highway

On May 21, 2009, three important pieces of insurance industry legislation, which failed to pass in previous years, were reintroduced in the United States House of Representatives. …
Read More Congress Reintroduces Legislation Affecting the Insurance Industry

In a recent interview with Latino Insurance, Manuel Aguilera, president of Mexico’s insurance regulator (Comision Nacional de Seguros y Fianzas), reportedly commented that implementation in Latin America of the concepts underlying Solvency II is an important and achievable goal for each of the countries’ regulators. 

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Read More Solvency II in Latin America? La Latinoamericanizacion de Solvencia II . . .

The trial involving claims that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was negligent in its maintenance of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO), which we discussed here, concluded on May 14, 2009.  Judge Stanwood Duval, Jr. of the United States District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, is expected to issue his ruling this summer in this non-jury trial. 

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Read More UPDATE: Significant Hurricane Katrina-Related Trial Concluded in Louisiana Federal Court

The Eleventh Circuit federal Court of Appeals recently affirmed summary judgment in favor of an automobile insurance company, finding that no reasonable jury could conclude that the insurer had acted in bad faith by offering the policy limits to an accident victim 33 days after the accident. 

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Read More Eleventh Circuit: As a Matter of Law, Auto Insurer’s Settlement 33 Days After Accident Is Not Bad Faith

EAPD is delighted to announce that it will again this year host a half-day insurance seminar which will be repeated in Bermuda, New York and Boston. …
Read More Half- day Insurance and Reinsurance Seminars

On May 20, 2009, President Barack Obama issued a memorandum addressing the limitations of federal preemption of state laws.  The memorandum ordered federal departments and agencies to review regulations preempting state laws to determine whether such preemption is based on an explicit Congressional mandate or an otherwise sufficient legal basis. …
Read More President Obama Orders Federal Agencies To Review Preemption of State Laws

Region: ING Latin America recently reported that its pre-tax profits in the region were up 17% (US$95 million) when comparing 1Q09 to 1Q08.  After excluding currency effects, the growth was even more pronounced at more than 33%. 

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Read More Latin American Update: Developments in the Region, Mexico, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica