Reinsurance disputes.

As a reinsurance expert witness, Mr. Bingham draws on years of practice in the field, on the carrier and regulatory sides, in disputes between ceding insurers and their reinsurers.

About this practice area

How reinsurance disputes arise.

Reinsurance is insurance for insurers. A ceding insurer (the cedent) transfers part of its risk to one or more reinsurers, either one policy at a time under facultative certificates or across a whole book of business under treaties. The relationship frequently depends on the cedent’s reporting: timely notice of claims, accurate reserves, and cooperation with the reinsurer’s rights to inspect records and to participate in significant claims.

Disputes arise over late notice, the cedent’s reserving & claim handling, the allocation & aggregation of losses, the reinsurer’s obligation to follow the cedent’s settlements, and the collection of balances due. Many are resolved by arbitration under the contract’s terms; others reach court, including suits to collect what is owed after an arbitration award. Reinsurance recoverables are also among the most important assets of an insurer in receivership or run-off.

Reinsurance collection for insolvent carriers is described under Receivership & Insolvency Issues.

The reinsurance round trip: risk ceded outward from a cedent to three reinsurers, and the collection returning

Engagements

Matters handled.

GIC has examined issues related to the business behaviors of both cedents and reinsurers. Mr. Bingham has worked as a senior executive for both parties. Major assignments have considered the reporting of shock losses, asbestos, environmental, and mass tort claim presentations.

Testifying expert · Report, Deposition

Facultative reinsurance dispute over asbestos claim cessions

40,000+page record

70-pagereport in under 5 weeks

80-pagerebuttal report

Reinsurance disputes

Over $100 million in reinsurance billed and collected

$100M+billed and collected

2003–2008collection period

Directedlitigation and arbitration resources

Reinsurance and run-off

Other matters

Targeted market conduct examination of an Illinois reinsurerConsultingMarket conductRead moreShow less

Engaged by the Illinois Department of Insurance to perform a targeted Market Conduct examination of an Illinois domiciled reinsurer. Subject matter of the investigation and analyses was the ceding commission structure, other operating expense budget, price & rating program including questions of capacity and surplus requirements, and provisions of the subject company’s reinsurance agreements. The project was performed pursuant to an Examination Warrant signed by the Director of Insurance and resulted in a Final Report of Examination.

Also listed under: Market conduct examinations and defense · Receivership & Insolvency Issues

Suit to collect legal fees from a reinsurer after arbitrationTestifyingReinsurance and run-offRead moreShow less

Retained by insurer in a suit to collect legal fees from a reinsurer which refused to pay after losing at arbitration and being ordered to reimburse the insurer for their indemnity payment. Case settled on eve of Mr. Bingham’s deposition.

Also listed under: Reinsurance collections and run-off operations