Hyman v. Legion Insurance (In re Scott Wetzel Services, Inc.)

278 B.R. 613, 15 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B 176, 2002 Bankr. LEXIS 554
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedApril 17, 2002
DocketBankruptcy No. 98-18366-8P7; Adversary No. 00-616
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 278 B.R. 613 (Hyman v. Legion Insurance (In re Scott Wetzel Services, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hyman v. Legion Insurance (In re Scott Wetzel Services, Inc.), 278 B.R. 613, 15 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B 176, 2002 Bankr. LEXIS 554 (Fla. 2002).

Opinion

ORDER ON CROSS MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

ALEXANDER L. PASKAY, Bankruptcy Judge.

On October 21, 1998, Scott Wetzel Services, Inc. (Debtor) filed its Petition for Relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Its attempt to reorganize came to an abrupt halt on December 28, 1998 when the Chapter 11 case was converted to a Chapter 7 liquidation case. In due course, Larry S. Hyman was appointed and placed in charge of the administration of the Chapter 7 estate of the Debtor as trustee (Trustee).

The present matter before this Court is Adversary Proceeding No. 00-616, commenced by the Trustee who filed a Complaint consisting of four counts. The claim in Count I is based on the allegation by the Trustee that within the 90 days preceding of the commencement of the Chapter 11 case, on September 23, 1998, the Debtor, while insolvent, transferred the sum of $525,000 to Legion Insurance Company (Legion Insurance) on account of an antecedent debt it owed to Legion Insurance. It is further contended by the Trustee that as a result of the transfer, Legion Insurance, if permitted to retain the funds, would recover more on its claim that the other unsecured creditors will receive in this Chapter 7 liquidation case. According to the Trustee, the transfer was a preferential transfer voidable by the Trustee pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 547(b)(4)(A).

The claim in Count II of the Complaint is also an alleged voidable preference based on Section 547(b)(4)(B) of the Code. In support of the claim in Count II, the Trustee alleges that at the time relevant, Legion Insurance was an “insider” of the Debtor, thus transfers outside of the 90 days and during the 1 year preceding the commencement of the case are also recoverable as preferential transfers.

In Count III of the Complaint, the Trustee seeks to avoid and recover actual fraudulent transfers pursuant to Section 548(a)(1)(A) of the Code. The Trustee seeks to recover all transfers, including the $525,000 transfer and the six transfers that totaled an aggregate amount of $4,225,000, during the relevant time.

In Count IV of the Complaint, the Trustee seeks to avoid and recover constructive fraudulent transfers pursuant to Section 548(a)(1)(B) of the Code. The Trustee seeks to recover all transfers, including the $525,000 transfer and the six transfers that totaled an aggregate amount of $4,225,000, during the relevant time.

The immediate matter under consideration are two Motions for Summary Judgment, one filed by the Trustee and the other by Legion Insurance. The Trustee’s Motion for Summary Judgment is directed to Count I of the Complaint only, whereas Legion Insurance’s Motion for Summary Judgment is directed to all Counts of the Complaint. This opinion only deals with the viability vel non of the claim of Count I. It is the contention of both parties that there are no genuine issues of material facts and each is entitled to a judgment in their respective favor as a matter of law.

The facts relevant to the claim set forth in Count I, as appear from the record, are indeed without substantial dispute and can be summarized as follows. At the time relevant, the Debtor had been engaged in the business of administering claims on behalf of several insurance com[615]*615panies, including Legion Insurance. Legion Insurance is in the business of providing workmen’s compensation insurance, among other types of insurance. Legion Insurance entered into several contracts with the Debtor under which the Debtor was to serve as a third party administrator of claims filed by the insureds of Legion Insurance. A contract entered into on November 13, 1991, among the Debtor, Legion Insurance, and Visiting Nurse’s Association of Texas, Inc. is typical and similar to other agreements between the Debtor and Legion Insurance. Although it is claimed that there were instances were some entities’ clients of the Debtor were self-insured and not insured by Legion Insurance, there is nothing in the record to establish in fact that this assumption is correct. Be as it may, it appears that in states where the entity elected to be self-insured, the entity was required to procure back-up insurance to assure that all proper workmen’s compensation claims were paid and Legion Insurance may have been involved in such instances.

The duties of the Debtor under a typical contract is set forth in detail in Section 111(3.1). Without setting forth the specifics, it shall suffice to state that it was the Debtor’s obligation to deal with all claims made by the insureds of Legion Insurance; to maintain the records of all claims made by the insureds; to determine the proper benefits to be paid; to make timely payments of the benefits due to an insured; and to assist counsel in instances were the claims were disputed.

The duties of Legion Insurance is set forth in Section V(5.1) of the contract. It was the sole responsibility of Legion Insurance to provide all funds to the Debtor for the payment of the claims and the allocated loss expenses. Legion Insurance agreed to maintain a claim fund account for the purpose of making payments to the Debtor for claims and expenses incurred on behalf of Legion Insurance. Under Section VII(7.1), the Debtor had the authority and control in all matters pertaining to the handling of claims under the agreement except of the aggregate expenditures in excess of $10,000,000.

In order to implement the program, Legion Insurance maintained bank accounts in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Milwaukee Accounts) and deposited the funds which were necessary to pay the claims made by Legion Insurance’s insured and the expenses. The fees of the Debtor were paid by the insureds. It is without dispute that the only entity who had authorization to make withdraws and/or transfers was the Debtor.

Under their arrangement, the Debtor established and maintained the “Scott Wetzel Services, Inc., ITF Legion Insurance Master Account” (account no. 1408822418) at Bank of America, formerly Barnett Bank (Bank of America), which was also referred to by the parties as an “escrow account” (Legion Master Account). The Legion Master Account was used to deposit all funds received from the Milwaukee Accounts. Then, the Debtor would transfer the funds to individual trust accounts opened and maintained by the Debtor for each insured of Legion Insurance serviced by the Debtor. The Debtor opened and maintained approximately 80 separate trust accounts, also referred to as zero accounts (Zero Accounts). The Zero Accounts were cleared every day when the particular claim was paid.

Under their arrangement as described by a typical contract, the Debtor had the right to debit weekly, through the automated clearinghouse (ACH), funds which was basically a wire transfer from the Milwaukee Accounts to the Legion Master Account set up by the Debtor. The Le[616]*616gion Master Account was solely controlled by the Debtor and all authorized signatories were the employees of the Debtor. Legion Insurance was not designated as a signatory. The claims of the insureds of Legion Insurance were paid by cheek drawn on the Zero Accounts from monies transferred from the Legion Master Account in the amount necessary to pay the claim. The transfer of the funds from Milwaukee was determined by the history of the payment of the claims of the insured.

In early February 1998, Legion Insurance informed the Debtor that the ACH withdrawals on the Milwaukee Accounts were in excess of the claims paid by the Debtor.

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Bluebook (online)
278 B.R. 613, 15 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. B 176, 2002 Bankr. LEXIS 554, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hyman-v-legion-insurance-in-re-scott-wetzel-services-inc-flmb-2002.