N.Y. Federal Judge Denies London Reinsurers 2nd Arbitration on Common Cause Coverage Provision

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge has denied a motion by certain London reinsurers to compel a second arbitration on the issue of whether a Common Cause Coverage provision bars coverage for asbestos claims made after the reinsurance contract period.

On July 30, Judge Denise Cote of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held that the reinsurers’ motion constitutes an impermissible challenge to a previous award in which arbitrators ordered the reinsurers to pay Arrowood $45 million for the claims.

In the 1960s, Arrowood entered into a reinsurance agreement with Certain Underwriters at …