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Mealey's Insurance Insolvency

  • February 03, 2026

    Remand Denied In Hurricane Coverage Dispute With Lender Over Settlement Funds

    NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge denied a motion to remand by an insured in a 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, finding that removal of the case to federal court was timely and the amount in controversy at the time of removal exceeded the jurisdictional minimum of $75,000.

  • February 02, 2026

    Former DOL Officials, Other Amici Urge 4th Circuit Affirmance In PRT Case

    RICHMOND, Va. — Three amicus curiae briefs filed Jan. 30 urge the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm a ruling that retirees had standing to file a putative class lawsuit that is part of a much-watched string of pension risk transfer (PRT) challenges, with one of those briefs coming from former U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) officials who argue that the Jan. 9 amicus brief the DOL filed here shows that “an effort is underway to limit the scope of” the private right of action under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • January 30, 2026

    Assignee Opposes Bid To Dismiss Decades-Old Asbestos Reinsurance Claims

    NEW YORK — The assignee of the liquidator of an insolvent insurer urged a New York federal court to deny a summary judgment motion filed by a U.K.-based reinsurer, arguing that asbestos-related reinsurance claims are not time-barred and that the reinsurer’s post-liquidation conduct, written acknowledgments and the destruction of records preclude dismissal of the reinsurance contract dispute.

  • January 29, 2026

    PHL Policyholders Move For Emergency Intervention Following Liquidation Notice

    WATERBURY, Conn. — A group of over-the-cap universal life insurance policyholders (UL policyholders) filed an emergency motion in a Connecticut state court to intervene in the rehabilitation of PHL Variable Insurance Co., arguing that they were required to continue paying premiums in reliance on repeated assurances of a forthcoming rehabilitation plan before the rehabilitator reported that liquidation was necessary, leaving their policies subject only to guaranty association limits.

  • January 29, 2026

    Document Production Ordered In Sex Abuse Coverage Suit Involving New York Diocese

    NEW YORK — After conducting an in camera review of documents in a discovery dispute in an insurance coverage suit, a New York federal magistrate judge ordered a nonparty New York diocese to provide specified documents from a personnel file it maintained for a priest alleged to have committed sexual abuse against children while working at another Roman Catholic diocese in the state.

  • January 29, 2026

    Status Conference Date Set In Hurricane Coverage Dispute Involving LIGA

    BATON ROUGE, La. — Without providing explanation, a Louisiana federal magistrate judge set a status conference to address depositions that were canceled but not rescheduled in homeowners’ Hurricane Ida coverage dispute with an insurance carrier participating in the U.S. government’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA).

  • January 27, 2026

    Panel Affirms Ruling Denying Motion To Enforce Settlement In Wind Damage Dispute

    LAKELAND, Fla. — A Florida appellate court affirmed a lower court’s ruling denying a motion to enforce a settlement agreement between an insured and his now-insolvent homeowners insurer, finding that pursuant to Florida law, the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) may not be obligated to pay a claim under an insurance policy that exceeds the insolvent insurer’s obligation.

  • January 23, 2026

    Default Entered In Auto Accident Coverage Dispute Involving Insolvent Insurer

    LAS VEGAS — As directed by a Nevada federal judge upon determining that an insurer failed to retain new counsel, a federal court clerk on Jan. 22 entered default against a now-insolvent insurer in a bad faith breach of contract dispute over coverage for an auto accident that resulted in deaths and injuries to multiple persons.

  • January 23, 2026

    Fla. Panel Affirms Judgment For Insurer In Dispute Over Water Mitigation Coverage

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.  — Without providing explanation, a Florida appellate court affirmed a lower court’s final order granting summary judgment for an insurer in a breach of contract dispute with a water mitigation company after the lower court found in part that the assignment agreement by the insured to the water mitigation company was invalid for failure to comply with Florida law requirements to have an itemized list of services to be performed.

  • January 16, 2026

    Fla. Panel Reverses Order As To Attorney Fees In Settlement Agreement With FIGA

    MIAMI — A Florida appeals court reversed and remanded a lower court order requiring the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) to pay the full amount of a settlement agreement between homeowners and their now-insolvent insurer in a hurricane damage coverage dispute, finding that the lower court erred in requiring FIGA to pay the attorney fee portion of the settlement agreement because it was not part of a covered claim pursuant to Florida law regarding FIGA.

  • January 13, 2026

    Defendants Win Dismissal Of Case Involving PRTs To Prudential And RGA

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge has dismissed with prejudice a putative class pension risk transfer (PRT) case notable for focusing on transfers to nonparties Prudential Insurance Company of America (PICA) and RGA Reinsurance Company (RGA), concluding that the Verizon Communications Inc. retirees who filed the suit lacked standing and failed to state their claims.

  • January 12, 2026

    DOL Becomes Latest Amicus To Urge 4th Circuit Reversal On Standing In PRT Case

    RICHMOND, Va. — Saying, “The magnitude of this case and these issues are hard to overstate,” the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on Jan. 9 became the latest amicus curiae to urge the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse a ruling that retirees had standing to file a putative class lawsuit that is part of a much-watched string of pension risk transfer (PRT) challenges; among other things, the retirees generally allege that the use of offshore captive reinsurers makes the insurers that are responsible to pay annuities because of the PRTs more likely to fall short of their obligations.

  • January 12, 2026

    N.C. Insurance Commissioner Asks Trump To Deny Pardon To Former Insurance Magnate

    RALEIGH, N.C. —  North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey wrote a letter to President Donald J. Trump, urging him to deny a pardon or commutation to former insurance magnate Greg Lindberg in a case in which a district court jury found Lindberg guilty of federal funds bribery and aiding and abetting bribery of Causey and conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud.

  • January 08, 2026

    PHL Rehabilitator: All Business Blocks Impaired And Liquidation Is Required

    WATERBURY, Conn. — The rehabilitator for PHL Variable Insurance Co. reported in a Connecticut state court that PHL cannot be rehabilitated through its own assets, that all blocks of business are “materially impaired” and that any resolution will require an order of liquidation to trigger guaranty association coverage, while stating that he is seeking to pair a liquidation order with a transaction to preserve limited ongoing benefits for policyholders.

  • January 07, 2026

    COMMENTARY: 2025 Key Insurance Decisions, Trends, & Developments & A Look Ahead To 2026

    By Scott M. Seaman, Pedro E. Hernandez and Jordan W.P. Evans

  • January 05, 2026

    Nevada High Court Affirms Ruling Finding Claim To Now-Insolvent Insurer Excluded

    LAS VEGAS — The Nevada Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s ruling finding that a truck driver’s claim for work-related injuries to the trucking company’s now-insolvent insurer was excluded by a workers’ compensation exclusion clause, finding that the driver failed to show that he was an independent contractor and that the workers’ compensation claim related to his injuries was denied.

  • January 02, 2026

    Hurricane Coverage Dispute With Insolvent Insurer Tossed For Lack Of Jurisdiction

    NEW ORLEANS — In a sua sponte order after the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) filed a petition for intervention, a Louisiana federal judge dismissed an insured’s suit against its now-insolvent property insurer seeking coverage for damage allegedly caused by Hurricane Ida, finding that “LIGA’s intervention destroys complete diversity and the Court’s subject matter jurisdiction.”

  • December 29, 2025

    Connecticut Judge Approves Moratorium Modifications In PHL Rehabilitation Case

    WATERBURY, Conn. — Ruling that PHL Variable Insurance Co.’s rehabilitator acted within his statutory authority, a Connecticut judge approved modifications to a moratorium order that affects payments of benefits or investment obligations for policies issued by PHL; the modifications allow eligible holders of nonvariable universal life policies alternative options for the full cost of insurance or premium charges and enable fixed indexed annuity holders to access part of their account value.

  • December 26, 2025

    Guaranty Association Seeks To Recover PIP Benefits From Uninsured Driver

    NEWARK, N.J. — The New Jersey Property-Liability Insurance Guaranty Association (NJPLIGA) filed a complaint in New Jersey state court against the driver of an alleged uninsured vehicle whose passenger was purportedly injured in an auto accident, seeking to recover personal injury protection (PIP) benefits and asserting that NJPLIGA is entitled to recover the medical expenses paid on behalf of the passenger.

  • December 24, 2025

    Reinsurer Seeks Dismissal Of Decades-Old Asbestos Reinsurance Billings

    NEW YORK — A reinsurer moved for summary judgment in a New York federal court, seeking dismissal of all claims brought by the assignee of the liquidator of an insolvent insurer, arguing that decades-old asbestos-related reinsurance billings are barred by New York’s statute of limitations, were extinguished through a court-approved liquidation allowance and fail on the merits because the claimed losses were never proven to be covered under the applicable catastrophe excess of loss treaties.

  • December 19, 2025

    Fla. Panel Affirms Judgment For Insureds In Breach Of Contract Roof Damage Dispute

    LAKELAND, Fla. — Without providing explanation, a Florida appellate court affirmed a lower court’s final judgment ordering a homeowners insurer to pay its insureds $4,853.04 after a jury returned a verdict in favor of the insureds regarding storm-related roof damage in the insureds’ breach of contract suit against Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which describes itself on its website as Florida’s “insurer of last resort.”

  • December 18, 2025

    Class Counsel Seeks 5% Attorney Fee Award In ACA Class Action

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Class counsel filed a reply brief in further support of their request for an attorney fee award of 5% of settlement classes’ net in a risk-corridor payment class action under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), arguing that the fee would not result in an “unjustified windfall.”

  • December 18, 2025

    Florida Appeals Court Orders Insured To Pay Fee In Water Damage Coverage Dispute

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida appellate court ordered an insured to pay the $300 filing fee in his appeal of lower court orders denying his motion for attorney fees and for rehearing of the denial in a dispute with the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) over a now-insolvent insurer’s failure to pay a claim for water damage to the insured’s home.

  • December 18, 2025

    N.C. Appeals Court Dismisses Appeal Of Modified Order In Insurance Fraud Dispute

    RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Court of Appeals on Dec. 17 dismissed in part and remanded an appeal of a lower court’s order amending a modified temporary restraining order (TRO) in insurers’ fraud and breach of contract suit against their former owner, insurance mogul Greg E. Lindberg, and related entities, regarding a memorandum of understanding (MOU), finding that the defendants failed to “cite appropriate authority” to enable the appellate court to determine if the lower court erred in extending the MOU beyond its “specified scope.”

  • December 17, 2025

    Mitigation Services Company Sues Guaranty Association, Alleges Breach Of Contract

    MIAMI — A Florida mitigation services company filed a complaint in Florida state court against the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) alleging breach of contract related to an insolvent insurer’s failure to pay the company for its work mitigating an insured’s windstorm damages.