NICO Not Required to Participate in Transatlantic/Continental Reinsurance Arbitration, Ill. Federal Judge Rules

CHICAGO — National Indemnity Insurance Co. is not required to participate in a reinsurance arbitration between Transatlantic Reinsurance Co. and Continental Insurance Co. because the language of the arbitration provision at issue is not broad enough to bind NICO as a non-signatory to its terms, an Illinois federal judge has ruled.

On June 26, Judge Robert W. Gettleman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois further held that NICO is not estopped from refusing to arbitrate because it did not benefit directly from the agreement containing the arbitration clause.

Continental Insurance Co. and TRC entered into …