Sentry Breached Notice Provisions in Reinsurance Contracts, R&Q Asserts in Answer to Counterclaims

CHICAGO — R&Q Reinsurance Co. maintains it is not obligated to pay Sentry Insurance a total of $3.9 million under two facultative reinsurance certificates because Sentry breached the certificates’ notice provisions by failing to promptly advise R&Q of underlying asbestos- and fire-related losses.

In a Feb. 27 answer to breach of contract counterclaims asserted by Sentry, R&Q asserts that Sentry knew of the underlying losses as early as 1990 and 1996. The dispute is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

According to the complaint, R&Q’s predecessor, INA Reinsurance Co., issued Sentry a facultative certificate …