G. C. Murphy Co. v. Reserve Insurance

101 Misc. 2d 729, 421 N.Y.S.2d 1006, 1979 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2751
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 19, 1979
StatusPublished

This text of 101 Misc. 2d 729 (G. C. Murphy Co. v. Reserve Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
G. C. Murphy Co. v. Reserve Insurance, 101 Misc. 2d 729, 421 N.Y.S.2d 1006, 1979 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2751 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1979).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Martin B. Stecher, J.

Consolidated for disposition herewith are the plaintiff’s motion of July 6, 1979, for an order requiring the defendant Reserve Insurance Company to deposit property with this court and enjoining Reserve from removing from the State or transferring property deposited by it with American Reserve Insurance Company; a motion submitted on August 17, 1979 by the plaintiff for leave to join as a party defendant American Reserve Insurance Company and to assert a cause of action against that prospective defendant as surety for the obligation of the Reserve Insurance Company; and, a motion by defendant Reserve Insurance Company, also submitted on August 17, 1979, for an order dismissing the complaint or, alternatively, for a stay of all proceedings against Reserve Insurance Company (CPLR 2201) "pending the liquidation proceeding in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.”

Reserve Insurance Company is an Illinois corporation whose stock, apparently, is wholly owned by American Reserve Insurance Company, a New York corporation. Reserve (Illinois) has never been licensed to do business in New York State. Plaintiff, G. C. Murphy, is, according to American Reserve’s attorneys, a Delaware corporation whose principal place of business is in Pennsylvania. Murphy, however, is authorized to do business in New York and apparently maintains an office in New York for that purpose.

The action arises out of a policy of insurance written by Reserve (Illinois) which had an annual premium of approximately $1 million. Reserve (Illinois), it appears, was merely the insurer of record, the bulk of the policy obligations having been reinsured by various of the defendants and third-party defendants. Well in advance of the termination date of the policy, Reserve (Illinois) elected to cancel the policy. It is Murphy’s contention that a return premium of $875,000 which was due was never paid. It is Reserve’s (Illinois) contention that Murphy received and accepted credits from other insurers, also parties to this action, which credits were applied [732]*732to the premium on a substitute policy and which aggregated the return premium.

It has heretofore been determined that the policy was delivered by Reserve (Illinois) to Murphy or Murphy’s broker here in New York which constituted carrying on the business of insurance in this State for which Reserve (Illinois) had no license. Accordingly, an order was made under the provisions of subdivision 3 of section 59-a of the Insurance Law which required Reserve (Illinois) "before [filing] any pleading in any action * * * instituted against it [to] deposit with the clerk of the court in which such action * * '* is pending, cash or securities or file with such clerk a bond with good and sufficient securities, to be approved by the court, in an amount * * * fixed by the court sufficient to secure the payment of any final judgment which may be rendered in such action”. The amount of the bond so fixed was $1,077,000. The bond of a disinterested company was in due course supplied and thereafter, on application of Reserve, its parent’s bond in that sum was substituted.

Reserve (Illinois) is in liquidation in Cook County, Illinois, under the laws of that State. Its attorneys move to dismiss the action pursuant to the provisions of the Uniform Insurers Liquidation Act (Insurance Law, § 517 et seq.). Reserve’s (Illinois) attorneys also offer this motion in opposition to the motion to join American Reserve (New York) on the theory that by procuring a judgment of dismissal of the action against Reserve (Illinois) the terms of American Reserve’s (New York) bond can never be met and, therefore, no cause of action exists or will exist against American Reserve (New York). The American Reserve bond provides that: "The condition of the above obligation is such that in the event the plaintiff recovers judgment against defendant, Reserve Insurance Company, in this action and defendant, Reserve Insurance Company pays the plaintiff the full amount of the judgment so rendered, then this obligation is to be void, otherwise to be in full force and effect, and the surety covenants, in that event it shall pay such final judgment or so much thereof as shall not have been paid by defendant, Reserve Insurance Company, up to but not exceeding the amount of One million seventy-seven thousand ($1,077,000) dollars.”

Reserve’s (Illinois) attorneys also contend that subdivision 3 of section 59-a of the Insurance Law is not intended to apply [733]*733to the plaintiff G. C. Murphy because it was the intention of the Legislature, as expressed in subdivision 1 of section 59-a of the Insurance Law, that residents of this State be protected and that Murphy is not a resident of this State.

There are three answers to this question:

It is the law of this case that G. C. Murphy is entitled to the protection of subdivision 3 of section 59-a of the Insurance Law; a foreign corporation licensed to do business in the State and doing business in the State is a "resident” within the meaning of such statute; and, it would undoubtedly be a violation of Murphy’s rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution to be afforded less protection under law than is provided to New York citizens when it is present in this jurisdication and doing business here.

Underlying the motion made by Murphy’s attorneys is the intent of the Uniform Insurers Liquidation Act (Insurance Law, § 517 et seq.) which has as its purpose the orderly liquidation of the assets of an insolvent insurer and the equitable allocation of those assets among creditors. Many States, including New York and Illinois, have enacted substantially similar statutes which permit a single jurisdiction to the extent possible, to administer the affairs of such a company.

Initially, there is doubt in my mind concerning the right of these attorneys for Reserve (Illinois) to make this motion. According to the order of the Circuit Court of Illinois, Cook County, the Illinois Director of Insurance "is hereby vested as liquidator with title to all property, contracts and rights of action of reserve insurance company and is hereby authorized to deal with the property, business and affairs of reserve insurance company and to sue and defend in the courts and tribunals, agencies or established panels of this State and other states in his name as Director of Insurance of the State of Illinois.” Nowhere in the moving papers of the attorneys for Reserve (Illinois) is there an allegation that this motion is made by or on behalf of the Director of Insurance of Illinois in his office as liquidator.

However, irrespective of standing, Reserve’s (Illinois) attorneys are not entitled to the relief they seek. Under ordinary circumstances, an action seeking compensation from the general assets (Insurance Law, § 517, subd 8) of the insurance company in liquidation would be required to be submitted in the liquidation proceeding in the domiciliary State, here lili[734]*734nois, or in the ancillary proceedings, if any (Insurance Law, § 521, subd 2). The requirements for the commencement of ancillary proceedings (Insurance Law, § 519, subd 1) do not appear to have been met in this State and, as indicated above, under ordinary circumstances, the action here should be stayed or dismissed with leave to the plaintiff to file its claim anew in Illinois.

The plaintiff’s claim here is not limited to the general assets of the plaintiff.

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Related

§ 1001
New York CVP § 1001
§ 1002
New York CVP § 1002
§ 2201
New York CVP § 2201

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
101 Misc. 2d 729, 421 N.Y.S.2d 1006, 1979 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2751, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/g-c-murphy-co-v-reserve-insurance-nysupct-1979.