ACE, London insurers in arbitration dispute

Lloyd’s of London and other London-market reinsurers recently moved to block units of ACE Ltd. from consolidating arbitration proceedings on dozens of asbestos claim-exposed reinsurance contracts.
According to court filings, ACE units which filed 17 separate arbitration demands charged London reinsurers with a “pattern and practice of delay, obstruction and failure and refusal to timely pay” asbestos claims.
Utilizing underwriting business that originally belonged to the acquired companies CIGNA Corp. and Aetna Property & Casualty operation’s, ACE units seek “recovery of all outstanding amounts as well as future billings” on asbestos losses. This arbitration further demands the coverage of around 50 reinsurance contracts stemming from the 50s and 80s, listing approximately 100 policyholders with asbestos claims. ACE says these claims are mainly on losses the Company has not to date billed or given notice of to London reinsurers.
Reinsurers argue that the contracts, 50 in 17 proceedings, do not contain provisions for consolidated proceedings and that they should be arbitrated separately. As a result of ACE’s actions, London reinsurers have filed nine separate complaints against ACE units in federal courts in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and California.
These suits want court orders against ACE subsidiaries so that they will not consolidate the arbitrations and must address disputes under each treaty separately.