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Mealey's Insurance Insolvency

  • November 13, 2025

    Panel Affirms $62,900 Settlement Enforcement Orders In Insurance Coverage Dispute

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In a per curiam opinion issued Nov. 12, a Florida appellate court affirmed lower court orders granting insureds’ motions to enforce a global settlement of $62,900 in a property insurance coverage dispute between the insureds and the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA), finding that FIGA failed to preserve its arguments for appeal.

  • November 13, 2025

    Majority Refuses To Consider Insureds’ Plea To Review Hurricane Coverage Suit

    NEW ORLEANS — A majority of the Louisiana Supreme Court on Nov. 12 refused to consider insureds’ application for a supervisory writ seeking review of a lower court’s interlocutory judgment that denied their motion for summary judgment to enforce appraisal amounts in a coverage dispute over hurricanes Laura and Delta damage and vacated the lower court’s grant of Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association’s motion for partial summary judgment, ruling that the application was untimely.

  • November 10, 2025

    Texas Panel Affirms Ruling Denying Summary Judgment In Guaranty Act Dispute

    HOUSTON — In a case of first impression, a Texas appellate court affirmed a lower court ruling denying a motion for summary judgment filed by a woman sued by a county government over damage to its vehicle in an auto accident, finding that because the woman failed to show that the county was a “self-insurer” pursuant to the Texas Motor Vehicle Safety-Responsibility Act (Safety and Responsibility Act) and the Texas Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Act, the lower court did not err when denying the woman’s motion for summary judgment.

  • November 10, 2025

    La. Panel Reverses Denial Of Summary Judgment For LIGA In Hurricane Damage Dispute

    BATON ROUGE, La. — A Louisiana appellate court reversed a lower court ruling denying summary judgment to the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) in a Hurricane Ida coverage dispute with an insured whose property was insured by a now-insolvent insurer, finding that the insured failed to show the existence of issues of material fact and failed to file a proof of claim against the insolvent insurer before the required deadline.

  • November 10, 2025

    Guaranty Association Seeks Net Worth Of Company Insured By Now-Insolvent Insurer

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Insurance Guaranty Association (TIGA) filed a declaratory judgment complaint in a Tennessee state court, seeking a judicial determination regarding the net worth of a company formerly insured by a now-insolvent insurer, arguing that TIGA is statutorily entitled to recover money paid on behalf of an insured whose obligations were satisfied by TIGA’s payments and whose net worth exceeded $25 million at the end of the year before the insurer’s insolvency.

  • November 10, 2025

    Fla. Panel Affirms Order Requiring Guaranty Association To Honor $20K Settlement

    TAMPA, Fla. — Without explanation, a Florida appellate court affirmed a lower court order requiring the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) to honor a $20,000 settlement reached by a now-insolvent insurer and homeowners in an insurance coverage dispute.

  • November 06, 2025

    Stable Value Funds Are Focus Of ERISA Suits Over Alleged Imprudence

    Often echoing arguments seen in recent pension risk transfer litigation concerning reinsurance arrangements and the risk of insolvency, a firm representing at least six different plaintiffs in various federal jurisdictions filed putative class Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases challenging retirement plan use of certain guaranteed income funds (GIFs) and stable value funds (SVFs) that the plaintiffs claim no prudent fiduciary would have selected and retained.

  • November 04, 2025

    Attorneys Seek Payment Of Fees In Insurance Magnate Money Laundering Case

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. —  Legal counsel for insurance magnate Greg Lindberg filed motions and briefs in North Carolina federal court seeking court approval for payment of fees in a case in which Lindberg pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy regarding his $2 billion scheme to defraud insurers and policyholders by funneling money through his extensive global network of insurance companies and was convicted on retrial in a related criminal proceeding.

  • October 30, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Claims In Asbestos Liability Suit Against Guaranty Association

    BATON ROUGE, La. — After parties filed a status report indicating a resolution of claims, a Louisiana federal judge dismissed claims against certain of the parties in an asbestos liability suit against individuals and multiple entities, including the Louisiana Guaranty Association (LIGA), alleging that a man’s workplace exposure to asbestos particles resulted in his lung disease and death.

  • October 23, 2025

    Guaranty Association Seeks Declaration Of No Coverage For Underlying Injury Suit

    TRENTON, N.J. — The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) filed a complaint in New Jersey federal court against an insured whose homeowners insurer is now insolvent, seeking a declaration that pursuant to a policy exclusion, no coverage is owed to the insured who is a defendant in an underlying personal injury suit and that the coverage under the policy at issue is excess to the insured’s other homeowners insurance.

  • October 22, 2025

    N.C. High Court Finds Review Of Insurance Fraud Ruling ‘Improvidently Allowed’

    RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Supreme Court issued an opinion stating that its prior discretionary review was “improvidently allowed” regarding an appeal by the purchaser of insurers in liquidation or rehabilitation of an appellate court’s decision affirming a ruling finding liability for fraud in a breach of contract suit.

  • October 22, 2025

    Louisiana High Court Won’t Review Asbestos Liability Row With Guaranty Association

    NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana Supreme Court denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) seeking review of an appellate court’s reversal of a ruling granting summary judgment to an insurer and to LIGA but denying a motion for partial summary judgment filed by family members in a dispute over their deceased relative’s death purportedly from asbestos exposure.

  • October 20, 2025

    Insolvent Insurer’s Liquidator Gets Judgment Of Over $13K In Dispute With Insured

    NEW YORK — A New York state court justice granted default judgment to the superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services, acting as the liquidator for an insolvent insurer, in her suit seeking to recover funds from an insured, finding that the superintendent proved entitlement to default judgment.

  • October 14, 2025

    Florida Panel Affirms Order Compelling Appraisal In Hurricane Irma Coverage Suit

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Without explanation, a Florida appellate court affirmed a lower court order granting insureds’ motion to compel appraisal in a breach of contract suit against the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) over damage purportedly caused by Hurricane Irma.

  • October 13, 2025

    Newsom Signs FAIR Plan Legislation For State ‘Insurer Of Last Resort’

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed California Assembly Bill 234, California FAIR Plan Association Governing Committee, a bill sponsored by Democratic Assembly Member Lisa Calderon, who stated that the bill “increases transparency of the FAIR Plan by requiring the Speaker of the Assembly and the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Rules (or a designee) to serve as members” of the committee and “ensures the public has a seat at the table.”

  • October 10, 2025

    Claims Objection Bar Date Extended By 180 Days In Vesttoo Liquidation

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware extended the claims objection bar date in the Chapter 11 liquidation of Vesttoo Ltd. and its dozens of affiliates by 180 days to April 6, 2026, finding that additional time will benefits all involved parties after the liquidated reinsurance provider cited a need for more time to generate proceeds and reconcile claims.

  • October 10, 2025

    Fla. Panel Affirms Judgment For Insurer In Wind, Water Damage Coverage Dispute

    MIAMI — A Florida appellate court affirmed a lower court’s ruling granting summary judgment for insurer Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which describes itself on its website as Florida’s “insurer of last resort,” in a dispute over coverage for an insured homeowner’s purported wind and water damage, finding in part that pursuant to Florida law, a party cannot use an affidavit that is contrary to prior testimony to argue against a motion for summary judgment.

  • October 09, 2025

    Pa. Federal Magistrate Recommends Dismissing Pension Risk Transfer Case

    PITTSBURGH — Agreeing with two of the five recent rulings in similar Employee Retirement Income Security Act putative class actions and citing Thole v. U.S. Bank N.A., a Pennsylvania federal magistrate judge recommended dismissing a pension risk transfer (PRT) challenge for lack of standing on the grounds that none of their three claimed injuries pass muster.

  • October 08, 2025

    Motion To Disclose Policyholder Data Granted In Insurance Conspiracy Case

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina federal magistrate judge granted a court-appointed special master’s consent motion to compel disclosure of policyholder data and for a protective order in a case in which insurance magnate Greg Lindberg pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy for his $2 billion scheme to defraud insurers and policyholders by funneling money through his extensive global network of insurance companies.  Lindberg was also convicted on retrial in a related criminal proceeding.

  • October 06, 2025

    Judge: Retirees In PRT Challenge Have Standing But Didn’t State Claims

    BOSTON — Overruling objections from each party in a putative class action that is part of a wave of challenges to pension risk transfers (PRTs), a Massachusetts federal judge granted dismissal motions upon concluding that the plaintiff retirees narrowly have standing because of allegations that they “received an inferior financial benefit than that to which they were entitled” — but failed to state their claims.

  • October 02, 2025

    California Insurance Commissioner Issues Bulletin On Fire-Related Cancellation

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara issued a bulletin requiring insurance companies not to cancel or refuse to renew residential property insurance for properties located in a specified ZIP code within or adjacent to a fire perimeter for one year after the state of emergency that was issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 19 related to the TCU Lightning Complex Fires near Chinese Camp, Calif.

  • October 01, 2025

    Judge Remands Sexual Abuse Suit Involving Diocese Insured By Insolvent Insurer

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on Sept. 30 granted a motion to remand filed by a man asserting claims for sexual abuse pursuant to New York’s Child Victims Act (CVA) against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, which is insured by a now-insolvent insurer, and related parties, finding that remand is appropriate due to mandatory abstention and permissible abstention because the suit can be resolved in a timely manner in state court and state courts “have a strong interest” in addressing issues regarding CVA claims.

  • September 30, 2025

    New York Federal Judge Deepens Standing Split In Series Of PRT Challenges

    NEW YORK — Days after a different New York federal judge dismissed a similar pension risk transfer (PRT) complaint for lack of standing, a New York federal judge on Sept. 29 largely declined to dismiss a putative class case, ruling that retirees have standing because they sufficiently alleged that the PRT “created a substantial risk that Plaintiffs will not receive their benefits” and “diminished the value of Plaintiffs’ benefits.”

  • September 25, 2025

    A 2nd Pension Risk Transfer Case Is Dismissed For Lack Of Standing

    ALBANY, N.Y. — Nearly six months after the first two rulings on dismissal motions in a much-watched recent set of putative class actions challenging pension risk transfers (PRTs) that retirees allege increase the possibility that they won’t get all of their promised benefits because of factors including offshore captive reinsurance, a New York federal judge issued the third ruling on Sept. 24, granting dismissal without prejudice for failure “to plausibly allege any injury-in-fact sufficient to establish standing.”

  • September 25, 2025

    180-Day Extension Of Claims Objection Bar Date Requested In Vesttoo Liquidation

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal bankruptcy court has been asked to extend the claims objection bar date in the Chapter 11 liquidation of Vesttoo Ltd. and its dozens of affiliates by 180 days to April 6, 2026, with the beleaguered reinsurance provider citing a need for more time to generate proceeds and reconcile claims.