Life Insurance Dispute Not Arbitrable, Pa. Federal Magistrate Judge Rules

PITTSBURGH — A Pennsylvania federal magistrate judge has refused to compel arbitration of a dispute over life insurance proceeds, finding the parties’ arbitration agreements do not encompass the transactions at issue in this lawsuit.

In an Aug. 28 order, Magistrate Judge Robert C. Mitchell of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania found that neither the life insurance policy nor the related loan contain an arbitration agreement.

On Sept. 7, 2005, Karen Bucher and her husband Clarence obtained a mortgage secured loan from CitiFinancial for a principal balance of $98,146.32. At the same time, the couple obtained …