Ace Property & Casualty Insurance v. United States

60 Fed. Cl. 175, 2004 U.S. Claims LEXIS 64, 2004 WL 626545
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedMarch 31, 2004
DocketNo. 03-470C
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 60 Fed. Cl. 175 (Ace Property & Casualty Insurance v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ace Property & Casualty Insurance v. United States, 60 Fed. Cl. 175, 2004 U.S. Claims LEXIS 64, 2004 WL 626545 (uscfc 2004).

Opinion

OPINION

YOCK, Senior Judge.

The plaintiffs seek damages for an alleged breach of Standard Reinsurance Agreements (“SRA”) between them, individually, and the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (“FCIC”). The defendant filed a Motion to Dismiss under Rule 12(b)(1) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”) arguing: (1) section 1506(d) of the [177]*177Federal Crop Insurance Act (“FCIA”) establishes exclusive and original jurisdiction in the federal district courts over the plaintiffs’ claims, thus withdrawing this Court’s Tucker Act jurisdiction, and (2) the Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994, codified at 7 U.S.C. §§ 6901-7014 (2000) (“1994 Reorganization Act”), created a mandatory administrative appeals process that is reviewable exclusively by the district courts, id., §§ 6991-7002, thus depriving this Court of subject matter jurisdiction. The plaintiffs oppose the motion and, in the alternative, seek to transfer this case to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Background

The Federal Crop Insurance Act, codified as amended at 7 U.S.C. §§ 1501-1524 (2000), was passed as part of the New Deal legislation during the Great Depression to rescue and to preserve agriculture in an effort to restore it to its position of strength in the national economy. See State of Kan., ex rel. Todd v. United States, 995 F.2d 1505, 1507 (10th Cir.1993). The FCIA’s express purpose is “to promote the national welfare by improving the economic stability of agriculture through a sound system of crop insurance * * 7 U.S.C. § 1502(a). As a means of serving that purpose, the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation was created pursuant to 7 U.S.C. § 1503 to regulate the crop insurance industry and is presently a wholly-owned Government corporation within the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”). The FCIC is authorized to issue insurance policies and to reinsure insurance policies that are issued by agents of independent companies and that comply with FCIC regulations. 7 U.S.C. §§ 1506,1508. Pursuant to section 1507, Congress directed that, to the “maximum extent possible,” crop insurance be offered through private insurance providers and reinsured (and regulated) by the FCIC. 7 U.S.C. § 1507(c). In the exercise of its authority, the FCIC provides approved insurance providers, such as ACE Property & Casualty Insurance Company (f/ k/a Cigna Property & Casualty Insurance Company), Alliance Insurance Companies, American Agricultural Insurance Company, American Growers Insurance Company in Rehabilitation, COUNTRY Mutual Insurance Company, Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Iowa, Farmers Alliance Mutual Insurance Company, Great American Insurance Company, Hartford Fire Insurance Company, NAU Country Insurance Company, Producers Lloyds Insurance Company, and Rural Community Insurance Company (collectively “the plaintiffs”), with crop reinsurance programs. Under this system, insurance providers, such as the plaintiffs, can sell and service eligible crop insurance contracts, and, provided that the language of the policies comply with FCIC regulations, the FCIC provides reinsurance under a Standard Reinsurance Agreement (“SRA”).1 Each of the plaintiffs entered into an SRA with the FCIC effective for the 1998 reinsurance year (“1998 SRA”).2

Under the 1998 SRA, the FCIC reinsured a portion of the underwriting risk related to catastrophic risk protection insurance (“CAT”) and other federal crop insurance policies issued by the plaintiffs. In addition to reinsurance rights, the SRA, for example, the 1998 SRA, includes provisions for specified subsidies and administrative fees and for the payment of loss adjustment expenses to the contracting insurance providers. Further, in addition to the mutual obligations and rights contained within the SRA, there are provisions permitting for suspension, termination, renewal, and replacement. As a governmental agency, the FCIA may undertake one or more of those actions with re[178]*178spect to the SRA where called for pursuant to statute or regulation.

The Secretary of Agriculture and the FCIC are authorized, pursuant to section 1516 of the FCIA, to issue such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of the chapter. These regulations are binding on the insureds, Federal Crop Ins. Corp. v. Merrill, 332 U.S. 380, 384-85, 68 S.Ct. 1, 92 L.Ed. 10 (1947), and the regulations set forth the terms of the crop insurance contracts. See 7 C.F.R. §§ 400.27-457.165. The SRA, the FCIC’s regulations, like the statute itself, are subject to change.

Indeed, in the decades following its creation, the FCIA has been significantly expanded and remains “one of a panoply of government programs designed to encourage, by subsidy if necessary, the nation’s agricultural business.” R & R Farm Enters., Inc. v. Federal Crop Ins. Corp., 788 F.2d 1148, 1154 (5th Cir.1986). Subsequent congressional enactments to the FCIA that have been signed into law and that have statutorily modified the crop insurance program include the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998, Pub.L. No. 105-185, 112 Stat. 523 (“ARE-ERA”) and the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000, Pub.L. No. 106-224, 114 Stat. 358 (“ARPA”).

Subtitle C of Title V of the AREERA introduced reforms and spending cuts, such as reducing the level of reimbursement provided for companies’ administrative costs, within the crop insurance program. Section 532 of the Act provided:

(a) Administrative Fee for Catastrophic Risk Protection. — Section 508(b) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1508(b)) is amended by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the following:
“(5) Administrative Fee.—
“(A) Basic Fee. — Each producer shall pay an administrative fee for catastrophic risk protection in an amount equal to 10 percent of the premium for the catastrophic risk protection or $50 per crop per county, whichever is greater, as determined by the Corporation.
“(B) Additional Fee. — In addition to the amount required under subparagraph (A), the producer shall pay a $10 fee for each amount determined under subparagraph (A).
“(C) Time for Payment.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
60 Fed. Cl. 175, 2004 U.S. Claims LEXIS 64, 2004 WL 626545, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ace-property-casualty-insurance-v-united-states-uscfc-2004.