Reinsurance Contracts Cap Total Amount Available to Cedent for Asbestos Losses, N.Y. Judge Rules

ROME, N.Y. — A New York judge has awarded the members of a reinsurance pool summary judgment in a dispute involving an underlying asbestos settlement, ruling that the cedent is not entitled to loss and expenses beyond the stated coverage amount set forth in the reinsurance certificates.

On March 7, Judge Patrick F. MacRae of the Oneida County Supreme Court, chose to follow the New York Court of Appeals’ ruling in Excess Insurance Company Ltd. v. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. that the reinsurers were entitled to rely on the policy limit as setting their maximum risk exposure.

In a ruling …