Syndicates break ranks on pandemic BI: Berkley sues its XoL reinsurers

The Lloyd's underwriter for WR Berkley broke ranks with insurer solidarity on pandemic BI coverage, taking Lloyd's rivals to court for over $90 million in reinsurance it says is due for event cancellation and related risks.

At issue are two multi-line excess of loss reinsurance treaties, including the  contested event cancellation and related risks in contingency lines, one treaty brokered by Aon and one by JLT. 

Berkley wants $90 million in reinsurance payments following over $134 million in claims it paid out on underlying policies stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic and related mandated shutdowns. Another $11 million was additionally reserved. 

In the case first filed late December, WRBC Corporate Member Limited, the sole underwriting member of W.R. Berkley Syndicate 1967, is suing eight syndicates or syndicate consortiums, including those headlined by units of AXA XL, Brit, Liberty Mutual, Chaucer, Canopius, China Re, White Bear and IAT CCM. 

Also on the defendant stand, insurers XL Bermuda, HCC International, Everest Re, TransRe and Validus Re with no listed Lloyd's connection. 

Sides will duel it out in court over the determination of a “single aggregating event” across varied jurisdictions and whether definitions of “any one event” from aggregation clauses should be mixed with “one event” from limits clauses, the Berkley assessment of correspondence with reinsurers suggests.  

Did you get value from this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.