Clearwater Levies Counterclaim Against Utica Mutual, Seeking to Recover $1 Million Reinsurance Payment

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Clearwater Insurance Co. has filed a counterclaim against Utica Mutual Insurance Co., seeking to recover nearly $1 million it paid for underlying asbestos claims, contending Utica’s billing was for loss and expense amounts and therefore not covered under the parties’ reinsurance contracts.

In its Dec. 6 answer and counterclaim filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, Clearwater accuses Utica of breaching the reinsurance contracts by submitting the improper billing.

Between 1978 and 1982, Utica issued four consecutive umbrella liability policies to Goulds Pumps that were in effect from Jan. 1, 1978, …