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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

  • work Practice Area

    Insurance

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Tuesday, April 26, 2022

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

$297.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE course will review the unique issues that counsel, for insurers, reinsurers, policyholders, or claimholders, face when either the insurer or the insured becomes insolvent. The panel will discuss the insurer's obligations when it is facing insolvency, what happens to insurers that cannot meet their obligations, and how policyholders can obtain coverage and indemnity for which they have paid. The program will also discuss the other side of the issue and what duties insurers owe policyholders and claimants when the policyholder files for bankruptcy or simply stops operating, cannot or is not allowed to assist with a defense, or cannot fund ongoing premiums.

Faculty

Larry P. Schiffer
Attorney
Schiffer Law & Consulting, PLLC

After practicing in New York City law firms since 1982, Mr. Schiffer recently launched an independent legal, consulting, advisory, mediation and arbitration practice. He is a member of the American Bar Association's Tort, Trial, and Insurance Practice Section, where he was chair of the Excess, Reinsurance, and Surplus Lines Committee and presently is technology vice chair of that committee. He is also chair of the Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Committee. He was chair of the New York State Bar Association Committee on Association Insurance Programs for nine years and was chair of the Technology Committee and is a member of the Ethics Committee of ARIAS U.S.  Larry is also the Editor of the ARIAS U.S. Quarterly.

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Dana R. Quick
Partner
Best Amron

Ms. Quick practices in the area of insolvency and commercial litigation. Her experience includes prosecuting director and officer liability claims; representing trustees, creditors, creditor committees, and debtors in bankruptcy proceedings; state court insolvency litigation; and prosecuting and defending preference actions. Additionally, Ms. Quick has significant experience representing and counseling companies of all sizes on employment issues, including ADA, FMLA, and Title VII matters.

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Jodi M. Adolf
Partner
Norton Rose Fulbright LLP

Ms. Adolf is a partner within the firm’s Insurance and Corporate groups, and has focused her practice on regulatory and compliance matters within the insurance industry for over 15 years. She advises clients on regulatory and compliance matters related to life, accident and health and property and casualty insurance. Ms. Adolf focuses on insurance regulatory compliance issues, including formation and licensing of insurance companies, third-party administrators, Knox Keene entities and Discount Medical Service Organization, and works with a number of insuretech clients on licensing and compliance. She also works on insurance insolvencies, acting as general counsel in insurer receiverships, and provides advice to bankruptcy clients on insurance matters.

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Mark Garbowski
Shareholder
Anderson Kill

Mr. Garbowski is an attorney in the Insurance Recovery group in Anderson Kill's New York office. His practice concentrates on insurance recovery, exclusively on behalf of policyholders, with particular emphasis on professional liability insurance, directors and officers insurance, fidelity and crime-loss policies, internet and high-tech liability insurance issues.

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Description

Although the insurance industry is highly regulated, insurers do fail and often in the wake of a high volume or high value of claims. Currently, the insurance industry and legal commentators alike are warning of a tsunami of "silent" cyber and privacy claims as well as claims arising from natural disasters that many insurers are unprepared to meet.

Company-ending events must be addressed by counsel representing the insurers as well as their panel counsel and policyholder counsel seeking to be paid on claims. All parties must understand what happens when an insurer is failing and may not be able or allowed to cover claims for which premiums have been paid. Resolving open claims can take years, and a secondary market has developed for purchasing certain types of claims owed by distressed insurers, and to a lesser degree, unresolved claims. When an insurer fails, officers, directors, brokers, and others who should have advised policyholders about the health of the company can be the targets of litigation.

On the other hand, a different set of issues arises when policyholders become insolvent or file bankruptcy or even simply go out of business but leave liabilities that an insurer must defend and indemnify even if there is no one to assist with a defense.

Listen as our authoritative panel of insurance practitioners guides insurance counsel for both policyholders and insurers through complex issues arising from insurer insolvency, and the insurer's duties when claims are made against insolvent, bankrupt, or defunct insureds.

Outline

  1. Insurer insolvency
    1. Regulation and statutes
    2. Options
      1. Guaranty association
      2. Conservation
      3. Rehabilitation
      4. Liquidation
    3. Priority of claims
    4. Recovery of assets
    5. Operational issues
    6. Deepening insolvency issues
  2. Policyholder insolvency
    1. Policy issues: deductibles and self-insured retentions
    2. Statutory issues
    3. Common law issues
    4. Recent cases
    5. Best practices
    6. Practical considerations

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • What state and federal laws govern insurer insolvency?
    • Which state's law applies when an insolvent insurer has operated in numerous states?
    • How does the insurer insolvency process differ from bankruptcy?
    • What are the powers and duties of the Receiver?
    • Against whom do claimants make claims when the insurer becomes insolvent?
  • What are the state guaranty associations and when is their coverage triggered
    • What will state guaranty associations pay?
  • What happens to my claim when my insurer is declared insolvent?
    • Who will handle my claim?
    • What is a proof of claim?
  • What is the role of reinsurance in insurance insolvency?
  • What happens when the policyholder is out of business?
    • What happens to the policy?
    • Must the insurer defend claims when the policyholder cannot?
    • Who should be notified of claims?Can claimants bring direct actions against an insurer if the policyholder is out of business?
    • What law governs the administration of claims?