Court Must Determine Whether Reinsurance Participation Agreement is Insurance Contract, 4th Cir. Says

BALTIMORE — The court, not an arbitrator, should determine whether a Reinsurance Participation Agreement constitutes an insurance contract or a reinsurance agreement for purposes of Virginia law, a federal appellate court has affirmed in a workers’ compensation insurance dispute.

In an Aug. 11 opinion, the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals further held that Applied Underwriters Captive Risk Assurance Company Inc. is not judicially estopped from arguing that the RPA is not an insurance contract, the appellate court held, because it has not taken inconsistent positions in previous cases.

In 2013, Minnieland Private Day School Inc. entered into a Reinsurance …