"UNAUTHORIZED" INSURER’S SUIT AGAINST REINSURERS SURVIVES
A Florida appellate court recently reversed a trial court’s decision to dismiss Advantage General Insurance Company's suit against its reinsurers, KILN and QBE Int’l. The trial court dismissed the suit finding that, under Florida statute § 626.903, Advantage was an unauthorized insurer and was barred from bringing suit in Florida courts. The Court of Appeals, however, ruled that in the reinsurance transaction at issue Advantage was the insured, not the insurer. Further, the Court of Appeals determined that the suit between Advantage and KILN & QBE did not “arise out of” Advantage’s alleged unauthorized sale of insurance to the original insured. Accordingly, the Court of Appeals held that it was improper to bar Advantage from access to the courts, and reversed and remanded the case. Advantage Gen. Ins. Co., Ltd. v. KILN/QBE Int’l, Case No. 4D08-1944, (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. Apr. 9, 2009).
This post written by John Black.
