Insurance Company Insolvencies: A Primer for Corporate Policyholders

The past several years have seen some major property-casualty insurance companies on the ropes and worse, far worse. Home Indemnity Company and Legion Insurance Company, two notable insolvency casualties, have left their policyholders without the full protection paid for and required. Sadly, they pale in comparison to the train wreck that is Reliance Insurance Company. The demise of Reliance has had repercussions for insurance buyers and others all over. Once a fixture in the directors' and officers' ("D&O") liability insurance marketplace, among other insurance markets, Reliance is now well underway in the liquidation process, after a brief and unsuccessful attempt to protect themselves while state insurance departments wrangle with one another in an attempt to snap up a share of the inadequate pool of assets left behind in the collapse of Reliance.