REINSURANCE DISPUTE AGAINST UK REINSURERS DISMISSED FOR LACK OF PERSONAL JURISDICTION
An action for breach of contract and declaratory relief arising from “fronting” insurance arrangements and reinsurance contracts (some dating to the late 1960s) between Employers’ Liability Assurance Corp. (“ELAC,” a predecessor of OneBeacon) and a series of “Moving Party” reinsurers has fallen by the wayside. The moving party reinsurers filed a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, or alternatively, under the doctrine of forum non conveniens. The court granted the motion, finding that the reinsurers – based in the UK – did not transact business in Massachusetts under the Commonwealth’s long-arm statute, nor did they have the requisite minimum contacts consistent with due process under the federal Constitution. The court found that a separate insurance broker and not the reinsurers had contacted ELAC regarding the contracts. The reinsurers were likewise not party to the contracts, and those agreements to which they were parties were negotiated and entered into in London. Further, no moving party reinsurer had any contact with any Massachusetts entity after 1993, thus failing the “continuous and systematic” contacts standard. OneBeacon America Insurance Co. v. Argonaut Insurance Co., No. 09-5085 (Mass. Super. Ct. Nov. 9, 2011).
This post written by John Black.
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