Reinsurance Focus

On a motion for reconsideration of a summary judgment entered against it, on which we previously reported, Century Indemnity Company urged a New York federal court to review its order in light of a subsequent decision by a different judge. The ruling Century sought to reverse concluded that the reinsurance limits set forth in each certificate of insurance issued by its reinsurer, Global Reinsurance Corporation of America, were inclusive of costs and expenses and created an overall cap of liability. The intervening decision Century brought to the Court’s attention was Utica Mutual Insurance Co. v. Munich Reinsurance American, Inc., an unpublished 2014 decision by the Second Circuit. Century’s motion was denied. The Utica decision was not controlling law and Century did not introduce new evidence. In addition, Utica would not require a different conclusion given that it was based on the particular language in the certificates in that case, which differed from the language of the certificates issued by Global. Specifically, the language in the certificates in the Utica case made losses and damages subject to the certificates’ limit of liability, but did not include a similar provision for “loss expenses.” Global’s certificates provided a total cap for liability and did not differentiate between reinsurance accepted for loss versus reinsurance accepted for expenses. Global Reinsurance Corp. of America v. Century Indemnity Co., No. 13 Civ. 06577 (USDC S.D.N.Y. Apr. 15, 2015).

This post written by Brian Perryman.

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