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Mealey's Reinsurance

  • January 15, 2026

    Insureds Allege FAIR Plan Mishandled, Underpaid Wildfire Smoke Claims

    LOS ANGELES — A pair of property insurance policyholders sued the California FAIR Plan Association in state court, alleging that the association breached statutory coverage requirements and engaged in bad faith claims handling by relying on policy provisions that impermissibly restricted coverage for wildfire smoke contamination and loss-of-use claims stemming from the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires.

  • January 15, 2026

    Arbitration Compelled, Litigation Stayed In Dispute Over Underpaid Commissions

    NEW YORK — Writing that “it would be difficult to imagine a breach-of-contract claim that did not arise out of the contract itself,” a New York federal judge compelled arbitration and stayed litigation between a program manager and an insurer, holding that the parties’ terminated program management agreement (PMA) required arbitration of claims alleging years of underpaid commissions and was not displaced by the agreement’s termination or survival provisions.

  • January 15, 2026

    RICO Defendants Say MGA, Reinsurer, Sought Leave To Amend Complaint In Bad Faith

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The defendants in a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) lawsuit filed a letter in a New York federal court urging denial of a reinsurer and a management general agency’s oral request to amend their first amended complaint (FAC) and dismissal of the case with prejudice, arguing that incurable RICO standing defects would remain and that the proposed amendment was sought in bad faith after plaintiffs advanced contradictory arguments.

  • January 14, 2026

    Reinsurers, Insurers Ask To Seal Summary Judgment Briefs In Indemnification Case

    TRENTON, N.J. —  The parties in a dispute between insurers and reinsurers over indemnification for asbestos bodily injury claims moved to seal confidential information as part of their cross-motions for summary judgment in a New Jersey federal court, stating that the filings contain nonpublic, competitively sensitive business information and that disclosure would cause competitive harm.

  • January 13, 2026

    Evidence Supports Crop Insurance Claim Denial, 5th Circuit Rules

    NEW ORLEANS — Holding that a farmer failed to provide adequate evidence to demonstrate that denial of his crop insurance claim was arbitrary or capricious, a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a lower court ruling that federal regulators implemented proper standards and correctly considered expert testimony in concluding that the farmer failed to follow good farming practices (GFP) for coverage purposes.

  • January 13, 2026

    Risk Pool Rebuts Reinsurer’s Dissolution Claim In Arbitration Dispute

    NEW YORK — An intergovernmental risk pool told a New York federal court that a reinsurer baselessly alleged that it was dissolved without notice when the reinsurer urged the court to rule on pending cross-petitions in an arbitration awards dispute involving attorney fees and whether there was a probability or a possibility of an excess judgment in an underlying case.

  • 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 08, 2026

    Tax Firm Moves For Summary Judgment In Bid To Vacate IRS Captive Final Rule

    DALLAS — A tax firm moved for summary judgment in a Texas federal court in its challenge to an Internal Revenue Service final rule on microcaptive insurance arrangements, arguing that the agency acted arbitrarily and capriciously by imposing reporting requirements without identifying facts or data showing that microcaptive transactions can potentially be done for tax avoidance or evasion.

  • 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 08, 2026

    California FAIR Plan Sued Over Alleged Unlawful Wildfire Smoke Claim Denials

    LOS ANGELES — A pair of property insurance policyholders sued the California FAIR Plan Association in state court alleging that the state’s “insurer of last resort”engaged in bad faith insurance practices and breach of contract by relying on unlawful policy provisions to deny or underpay wildfire smoke contamination and loss-of-use claims arising from the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, in violation of California insurance law.

  • January 05, 2026

    Defendants Argue Regulatory Unwinding Moots Derivative Captive Pool Claims

    WILMINGTON, Del. — The defendants in three related cases concerning a disputed captive reinsurance pool seek dismissal of a verified amended and supplemental derivative complaint, arguing that the challenged captive pool restructuring was fully unwound under regulatory supervision, rendering the claims moot, and that the post-unwinding corporate structure did not alter policyholder rights.

  • January 02, 2026

    Crop Insurance Agent Sues Carrier Over Allegedly Withheld Policy Commissions

    CINCINNATI — A crop insurance agency sued an authorized insurance provider (AIP) in an Ohio federal court, alleging that the AIP breached several 2024 reinsurance and underwriting contingency agreements by withholding statutorily required commissions on policies sold during the 2024 crop year.

  • December 30, 2025

    Insurers Denied Injunction But Granted Expedited Discovery In Captive Dispute

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge denied a group of insurers’ motion for a preliminary injunction compelling an insurance services firm, its captive affiliate and its general counsel to post millions of dollars in collateral, finding that the insurers failed to demonstrate a clear likelihood of success on the merits or irreparable harm, but granted the insurers’ request for expedited discovery in a dispute arising from the alleged mismanagement of a captive insurance program.

  • 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 29, 2025

    Insurer, Reinsurer Jointly Voluntarily Dismiss Claims In Withheld Funds Dispute

    CHICAGO — An insurer and reinsurer filed a joint stipulation of voluntary dismissal in an Illinois federal court, dismissing all pending claims, counterclaims and third-party claims with prejudice in a dispute in which the reinsurer claims that the insurer breached their reinsurance agreement by withholding funds owed under contractual liability insurance policies issued to a service contract provider.

  • December 24, 2025

    Federal Judge Bars Pre-2019 Mine Subsidence Claims In Suit Against Railroad

    SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — An Illinois federal judge granted summary judgment to a railroad company, barring further litigation of pre-2019 mine subsidence claims but denied the company’s request for permanent injunctive relief; in the same order, the judge rejected a reinsurer’s cross-motion argument that claims are acquired only upon payment, asserting that state law ties acquisition to reimbursement documentation and that prior successor-liability rulings foreclosed relitigation.

  • 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 23, 2025

    Separate Judgment Entered In Indemnification Dispute Over Assumed Liabilities

    BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge entered separate and final judgment on two declaratory judgment claims in a dispute over liabilities arising from a 2005 transfer and assumption agreement and a 2007 stock purchase agreement (SPA), holding that his earlier ruling resolved the enforceability of the agreements and that there was no reason to delay judgment because the remaining disputes concern only damages issues that are factually distinct.

  • December 23, 2025

    Final Approval Of Class Settlement, Attorney Fees Request Granted In RESPA Suit

    FRESNO, Calif. — A federal judge in California granted final approval of a class action settlement and finalized certification of the settlement class in a long-running Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) case, authorizing class members to receive $875 in cash compensation per affected loan under an uncapped, claims-made agreement with an estimated maximum class payout settlement of $29.5 million, also approving $9.031 million in attorney fees, $2.07 million in litigation expenses and $5,000 service awards to the five class representatives.

  • December 23, 2025

    Disaster-Prone States Set 2026 Reinsurance Structures With Varying Models

    Florida, California and Texas — the nation’s three most-populated states — enter the new year facing high risks of exposure to hurricanes, wildfires and severe storms, which often correspond with pressures on their property insurance markets.

  • December 19, 2025

    Reconsideration Of Dismissal Motion Denied In Captive Tax Shelter Dispute

    PITTSBURGH — A Pennsylvania federal judge denied a Pittsburgh-based corporation’s motion for reconsideration in its challenge to penalties tied to the corporation’s alleged promotion of a tax shelter through a purported captive insurance program, holding that the corporation failed to satisfy reconsideration standards and abandoned its constitutional challenge to the statutory prepayment requirement it claimed the court overlooked.

  • 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 18, 2025

    Insurers, Reinsurers Seek Indemnification From Jet Manufacturer For Fatal Crash

    SAVANNAH, Ga. — An air carrier and its aviation insurers and reinsurers filed a complaint in a Georgia federal court seeking contribution and indemnification, alleging that the manufacturer of a business jet involved in a fatal crash is responsible for millions of dollars in hull, crew and passenger death settlements that the carrier and its insurers and reinsurers were compelled to pay.