The United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada has held that proceeds from a professional liability policy were not property of the insured-debtors' bankruptcy estate because the proceeds were payable only for the benefit of third party claimants and could not be accessed by the debtors directly.  In re Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, Nos. BK-S-09-22780-MKN, S-09-22776-MKN, S-09-22784-MKN, 2011 WL 2184387 (Bankr. D. Nev. May 23, 2011).

The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the First Circuit recently held that a creditor holding a perfected security interest in accounts and payment intangibles did not have a perfected security interest in the proceeds of an insurance settlement. In re Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Ry., Ltd., 521 B.R. 703 (B.A.P. 1st Cir. 2014). In this case, the creditor had extended a line of credit to the borrower, which it secured by a security interest in all the borrower’s accounts and payment intangibles. The creditor filed a financing statement to perfect its security interest.

Since 2008, many individuals have been looking for investments outside of bonds or the stock market that provide guaranteed payments at higher rates of return.  Some have turned to investing in precious metals, while others have looked to investing in life insurance policies.  Many are familiar with the word “viaticals” that became well known during the 1980’s, when people began purchasing life insurance policies on the lives of people with chronic or terminal illnesses, such as AIDS.  With viaticals, the insured usually had a limited life expectancy and the owner of the viat

A recent decision of the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the First Circuit, Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Company v. Keach,[1] ruled that a lender (Wheeling) did not have a perfected security interest in a business interruption insurance policy or its proceeds.  The decision in Wheeling is inconsistent with a prior court decision that dealt with business interruption insurance as proceeds of collateral and was more favorable to secured creditors, and therefore should be of concern to lenders.

Background

The Iowa Commissioner of Insurance (the “Commissioner”) filed a petition, on January 29, 2015, seeking to liquidate CoOpportunity Health, Inc. (“CoOpportunity”), a Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (“CO-OP”) established under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) that has sold health insurance on the Iowa and Nebraska Exchanges.

Today, the Vermont Supreme Court issues its opinion in the Ambassador in Liquidation case striking down the estate’s previously-published 12/31/13 bar date for final Proofs of Claim. The Ambassador Ins. Co. liquidation has been in process since 1987.  After the estate obtained over $300,000,000 in reinsurance and settlement proceeds from its former auditing firm, the estate essentially became “solvent”—paying Priority Four claims at 100 percent (plus interest).

A D&O liability policy protects key individuals in a corporate structure.  These individuals are likely targets for shareholder frustration if an entity is underperforming or suffering from other troubles.  In addition, they may be exposed to personal scrutiny from regulators if the corporation is investigated for any wrongdoing.  As previously discussed in this space, an insurance policy can provide more reliable protection for t

Corporate directors and officers may think indemnification provisions are sufficient to protect them from claims asserted against them by shareholders or regulators.  However, if a director or officer chooses to rely solely on indemnification in bylaws or contracts, and ignores the availability of directors & officers (“D&O”) liability insurance, he or she could be making a significant mistake.  In particular, a D&O policy can offer these individuals more reliable protection in times of financial distress.  When corporations are plagued by regulatory or other lega

November 10, 2014, is the deadline for filing proof of claims with the Office of the Special Deputy Receiver in Illinois regarding the estates of Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Company, American Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Company and American Motorists Insurance Company. Those insurance companies are all part of the Lumbermens Mutual Group and were formerly known as Kemper. They entered liquidation on May 10, 2013.

On September 4, 2014, the receivership court for the Reliance Insurance Company (“Reliance’) estate (the “Reliance Estate”) approved a settlement agreement allowing the Liquidator to terminate and commute the obligations between Odyssey and Reliance under the reinsurance agreements.