Newsletter RSS

Mealey's Insurance Insolvency

  • March 26, 2026

    Judge Extends Submission Date In Hurricane Coverage Dispute Over Settlement Funds

    NEW ORLEANS — In an insured’s dispute with his lender over its alleged failure to endorse settlement checks as an additional payee in a hurricane coverage dispute involving a now-insolvent insurer, a Louisiana federal judge granted the parties’ joint motion to extend a submission date for filing briefs in response to the lender’s motion to dismiss an amended complaint.

  • March 25, 2026

    Retirees Will Ask D.C. Circuit To Revive PRT Case Against Alcoa USA Corp.

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — On March 24, Alcoa USA Corp. retirees filed a notice that they will attempt to revive their putative class challenge to pension risk transfers (PRTs) in the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals; the appeal will be the second in a string of similar cases filed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • March 25, 2026

    Appellate Court Grants Extension To Submit Brief In Water Damage Coverage Dispute

    ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — After a jury returned a verdict in favor of a Florida homeowner, a Florida appellate court granted her an extension to file an opening brief in her appeal of a lower court’s final judgment ordering the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) to pay her $46,855.75, which represents the cash value of the cost to repair the plumbing system in her home that purportedly caused water damage.

  • March 25, 2026

    Case Referred To Magistrate For Settlement Conference In Life Policy Payout Row

    CINCINNATI — In a liquidating trustee’s breach of contract suit against an insurer for failure to pay the full amount owed on a life insurance policy, an Ohio federal judge referred the case to a magistrate judge “for the limited purpose of conducting a settlement conference.”

  • March 24, 2026

    Denial Of Objection To Claim Recommended In Property Insurer Liquidation Case

    WILMINGTON, Del. — In an insurer’s liquidation proceeding, a Delaware Court of Chancery magistrate judge advised granting the receiver’s claim recommendation and denying a woman’s objection to a zero dollar valued claim for the portion of the woman’s claim related to the alleged concealment of the insolvent insurer’s policy in underlying property damage litigation, finding that the evidence shows the woman was already compensated for her damages by another insurer.

  • March 23, 2026

    Florida Panel Affirms Judgment For FIGA In Breach Of Contract Water Damage Dispute

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Without providing explanation, a Florida appellate court affirmed a lower court’s partial grant of summary judgment for the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA), which was substituted as a defendant in homeowners’ breach of contract suit against their now-insolvent insurer alleging that the insurer failed to repair all the water damage at their property.

  • March 20, 2026

    Florida Panel Reverses Order Enforcing Settlement In Hurricane Coverage Dispute

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — In a hurricane coverage dispute, a Florida appellate court reversed and remanded a lower court order enforcing an insured’s settlement agreement with a now-insolvent insurer against the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA), which was substituted as a defendant after the insurer was placed into receivership, finding that the insured’s claim for attorney fees “does not fall within the statutory definition of a covered claim.”

  • March 20, 2026

    Judgment Granted For Insurer In $8.59M Structured Annuity Settlement Dispute

    TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge denied partial summary judgment to an annuitant but granted summary judgment to an excess insurer in a dispute over a reduction of $8.59 million in annuity payments agreed to between a woman injured in a car accident and the excess insurer for one of the defendants in a separate liability suit, finding that the woman’s claims were barred by the relevant six-year statute of limitations because the excess insurer, which purchased the annuity from a now-insolvent insurer, allegedly materially breached the agreement by reducing the payments and repudiating the agreement over six years before the suit was filed.

  • March 19, 2026

    Re-Notice Of Deposition Filed In Guaranty Association Breach Of Contract Dispute

    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — After a Florida state court judge ordered homeowners to appear for depositions in their breach of contract suit against the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA), which was substituted as the defendant for their now-insolvent homeowners insurer, FIGA filed a re-notice stating that it will be deposing the homeowners on May 11.

  • March 13, 2026

    COMMENTARY: America 250: A History Of Insurance And Insurance Coverage Law And Litigation In The United States, Part 1

    By Scott M. Seaman, Pedro E. Hernandez and Peter J. Lewis

  • March 13, 2026

    CBO Says Insurance Trust Fund Will Be ‘Exhausted’ By 2040, Cites Reconciliation Act

    WASHINGTON, D.C.  — In a regular blog post update to Congress regarding projections of the financial position of the Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) announced that the balance of the HI trust fund, which is used to pay for Medicare Part A benefits, will be “exhausted in 2040,” due in part to decreased revenues from taxing Social Security benefits caused by the changes implemented by the 2025 Reconciliation Act (Public Law 119-21), described by the Internal Revenue Service as the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act.”

  • March 11, 2026

    Liquidated Reinsurer, 2 Insurers Terminate Trust Accounts, Settle Claims

    WILMINGTON, Del. — The Delaware Chancery Court approved a stipulation between the receiver for a stock reinsurance company and a pair of insurers, authorizing the closure of two trust accounts and two monetary distributions to satisfy claims asserted under a reinsurance agreement.

  • March 11, 2026

    Split Louisiana High Court Denies Writ In LIGA Hurricane Ida Coverage Dispute

    NEW ORLEANS — Without explanation, a split Louisiana Supreme Court denied an application for a supervisory writ filed by the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) after a trial court denied its motion for summary judgment in a Hurricane Ida coverage dispute.

  • March 10, 2026

    California DOI, Insurer Reach Agreement In Rate Increase Hearing Proceeding

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Department of Insurance, Consumer Watchdog and State Farm General Insurance Co. reached a three-party settlement agreement in a full-rate hearing proceeding to review the insurer’s emergency interim rate increase following the Palisades and Eaton wildfires.  In a news release, the department says the deal “will provide financial relief to many policyholders while ensuring continued coverage for State Farm policyholders while California’s insurance market stabilizes.”

  • March 09, 2026

    Louisiana High Court Affirms Prescriptive Denial In Hurricane Coverage Dispute

    NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana Supreme Court on March 6 affirmed and remanded to a trial court an appellate court’s denial of an exception of prescription sought by the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) as purported guarantor for a now-insolvent insurer in an insurance coverage dispute over purported damages from Hurricane Ida, finding that because the insurer made an unconditional payment on its insureds’ claims, which interrupted the prescriptive period, the insureds’ complaint was timely.

  • March 05, 2026

    Discovery Deadline Extended Again In Hurricane Coverage Dispute Involving LIGA

    BATON ROUGE, La. — After previously granting homeowners’ motion to extend discovery to provide expert disclosures, a Louisiana federal magistrate judge in a docket-only order granted a motion by the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) to further extend discovery in the homeowners’ Hurricane Ida coverage dispute with an insurance carrier participating in the U.S. government’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and LIGA.

  • March 04, 2026

    Magistrate Deems Reserve Information ‘Relevant’ In Diocese Sex Abuse Coverage Row

    NEW YORK —  Finding that information about financial reserves may be “relevant” to the issue of a now-insolvent insurer’s coverage for claims against a New York Roman Catholic diocese for clergy’s alleged sexual abuse of children, a New York federal magistrate judge ordered the insurer to produce the reserve information in a suit over the insurer’s duty to defend and indemnify in underlying suits over the alleged sexual abuse.

  • February 26, 2026

    Panel Affirms Judgment For Homeowner In Coverage Dispute With Guaranty Association

    DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Without explanation, a Florida appellate court affirmed a lower court order granting final judgment for a homeowner in an insurance coverage dispute and requiring the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) to pay $23,000 to the homeowner.

  • February 25, 2026

    Response To Payment Order Filed In Appeal Of Verdict For Guaranty Association

    ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In a hurricane coverage dispute, a homeowner filed a response to a court order requiring payment of a filing fee in her appeal to a Florida appellate court of a jury verdict and final judgment for the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association.

  • February 25, 2026

    N.C. High Court Won’t Stay $526M Damages Award Against Pro Se Insurance Mogul

    RALEIGH, N.C. — Without providing an explanation, the North Carolina Supreme Court on Feb. 24 issued orders dismissing a petition for a writ of supersedeas and motion for a temporary stay filed by former insurance mogul Greg Lindberg, now proceeding pro se, seeking a stay of trial court orders, including an order requiring him and his companies to pay $526 million in damages regarding conversion of assets in insurers’ breach of contract suit against him.

  • February 25, 2026

    D.C. Federal Judge Nixes Bid To Amend Complaint In Dismissed PRT Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Roughly 11 months after issuing a dismissal without prejudice for lack of standing, a District of Columbia federal judge on Feb. 24 declined to let Alcoa USA Corp. retirees file a second amended putative class complaint challenging pension risk transfers (PRTs) under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • February 25, 2026

    FIGA Votes To End 1% Emergency Assessment On Homeowners, Business Policies

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla.  — Two years ahead of its original schedule, the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) announced in a press release that it has voted to end the 1% emergency assessment that was previously levied on Florida homeowners and business property and casualty policies.

  • February 23, 2026

    Pollution Exclusion Does Not Bar Coverage For Chemical Exposure Suit, Panel Says

    PORTLAND, Ore. — A district court erred in finding that a commercial general liability insurer has no duty to defend or to contribute to the defense of its insured named in an underlying chemical exposure suit because the policies’ pollution exclusion does not bar coverage based on the allegations in the underlying suit, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Feb. 20 in reversing and remanding the court’s summary judgment ruling.

  • February 23, 2026

    Texas Panel Affirms Judgment For Texas FAIR Plan In Insurance Coverage Dispute

    HOUSTON — A Texas appellate court affirmed a lower court’s ruling granting summary judgment to the Texas FAIR Plan Association (TFPA) in a homeowners insurance coverage dispute, finding that because the homeowners “did not bring forth more than a scintilla of probative evidence to raise a genuine issue of material fact on any of their claims,” the lower court correctly granted summary judgment for the TFPA.

  • February 19, 2026

    Judge Dismisses Nonresponsive Subclass Members In ACA Risk-Corridor Class Action

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge dismissed without prejudice six specified subclass members for failure to respond to class counsel in a risk-corridor payment class action filed under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).