Insurer, spooked by concussion lawsuits, looks to part ways with the NFL.
espn / 8-14-12
A company that the NFL was hoping it could count on to help in its defense against concussion lawsuits is seeking to separate itself from the league.
Alterra America Insurance, which provided the NFL with an excess casualty insurance policy last season, has asked for a New York State Supreme Court judge to issue a declaratory judgment in its favor that would clear the firm from having to defend the league and pay for the damages associated with litigation that now involves more than 3,000 former players. Many of the player suits have been consolidated into a single case in a district court in Pennsylvania.
SNIP
Alterra, which only covered the league for one year, is one of many insurance companies with which the league has a policy. No other insurance company that has a relationship with the league has balked in defending and perhaps paying off future claims.
As the concussion lawsuits mount, a significant amount of pressure has been put on the insurance companies. In April, Riddell, the official helmet of the league which has been included in many of the player lawsuits, filed suit in California, after it said that three of the nine companies that it had insurance policies with -- ranging in time from 1959 to 1980 -- either failed to acknowledge the league had coverage with them or contested the insurance company wasn't liable for current claims against Riddell.
STORY: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8269205/alterra-america-insurance-wants-defending-league-concussion-lawsuits
I can understand this from Alterra's perspective: why should they spend millions in litigation defense for actions that happened 20-30 years ago when the NFL has been a client for only one? But then I'd ask, why did they ever take on the NFL as a client? Concussion litigation in nothing new. Whatever ... this sounds like it's going to get nasty.