Reinsurance Broker Aon Must Pay Insurer ‘Annual Fee,’ 7th Cir. Affirms

CHICAGO — Reinsurance broker Aon Benfield Inc. (NYSE: AON) must pay an insurer a $744,402 “annual fee,” even though Aon was replaced by another broker at the end of the parties’ agreement year, a federal appeals court has affirmed.

On Dec. 19, the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that under the 2009 contract’s one-year revenue sharing agreement, the fee was payable to Homeowners at the end of the contract term regardless of whom it chose as its broker of record in 2010.

In 2007, Homeowners Choice Property and Casualty Insurance Co. and Aon entered into a broker authorization …