HOLOCAUST LAW QUESTIONED

A California law enacted in 1999 requiring that insurance companies turn over information related to European insurance policies or face loss of their licenses has been ruled an unconstitutional violation of due process, according to the legal counsel for several insurers. The Los Angeles office of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP was retained by nine insurance companies affiliated with Winterthur Swiss Insurance Company after the state insurance commissioner sought to force them to obtain from their foreign affiliates detailed information on all policies issued in Europe in effect between 1920 and 1945. Counsel for other affected insurers successfully argued in U.S. District Court that the Holocaust Victim Insurance Relief Act (HVIRA) required tasks their clients could not meet because they lacked any such records and had no way to compel the European companies to produce them. When the state insurance commissioner’s office threatened to lift the licenses, the companies sued. In an Oct. 2 ruling, U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb agreed with the insurers’ argument that they had been denied due process because no sufficient hearing procedures existed. The insurance companies represented by Milbank are Winterthur International America Insurance Co., Winterthur International America Underwriters Insurance Co., General Casualty Co. of Wisconsin, Regent Insurance Co., Southern Insurance Co., Unigard Indemnity Co., Unigard Insurance Co. and Blue Ridge Insurance Co. Another firm, Republic Insurance Co., was sold by Winterthur during the case. In a petition before the U.S. Supreme Court, the insurers seek a ruling as to whether the HVIRA is unconstitutional because it interferes with the federal government’s control over foreign affairs and interferes with commerce.

Topics USA Carriers Europe