A child sex abuse survivors advocacy group is calling for an investigation into insurer Chubb Ltd. by New York’s financial regulator for allegedly failing to comply with its mandate to cooperate with the state’s Child Victims Act.
The Coalition for Just and Compassionate Compensation has asked the New York State Department of Financial Services to look into Chubb and its policies regarding the insurer’s alleged resistance to covering damages related to the CVA. The request, made in a letter on Friday, comes as Chubb subsidiaries are in a legal battle with the Archdiocese of New York over the extent of their coverage obligations with respect to abuse claims.
“It is a cynical but tried and true practice of some in the insurance industry to delay, deny, and defend,” the letter said. “Chubb knows that every month that is spent in litigation, another survivor dies, lessening their potential liability.”
Lawsuits resulting from New York’s CVA have led six of the state’s eight regional Catholic dioceses to file for bankruptcy, exacerbating disputes with insurers as the dioceses seek coverage for abuse claims. The archdiocese has not sought bankruptcy protection.
Neither Chubb nor the DFS responded immediately to requests for comment on Friday.
The Chubb insurers sued the New York Archdiocese in June. The insurers argue that because senior archdiocese officials may have known for decades that some clergy members were committing sexual abuse, their insurance policies don’t require coverage for injuries that were expected, intended, or weren’t accidental.
The New York Archdiocese is one of the largest by Catholic population in the country, covering large areas of New York City and several counties. It has been named as a defendant in an estimated 3,000 lawsuits related to the CVA, according to Chubb’s court documents.
“The precedent that Chubb is seeking to establish here will have profound impacts on claims far beyond those involving the Archdiocese,” the group’s letter said. “And as such, the Department of Financial Services has an obligation to make clear to Chubb—and all insurance carriers in the State of New York—that they will fulfill their obligations.”
‘Seeks to Welch’
In October, the archdiocese filed a motion to dismiss Chubb’s lawsuit, stating that the insurer “seeks to welch on its decades-long contractual promises to defend and pay thousands of survivor claims.”
The litigation, which shows Chubb’s “hungry desire” to evade coverage after accepting $100 million in premiums over the last three decades, is based on unproven allegations of negligence, the archdiocese said.
Arguments on the motion to dismiss are scheduled for Nov. 27.
The coalition mentioned in its letter that Chubb has also resisted coverage across the country, including in a lawsuit it brought against the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
The New York Archdiocese has already settled more than 100 cases and aims to settle more, the coalition said. But “to provide full restitution,” Chubb must “fulfill its insurance obligation and assist in paying out these damages,” considering the millions of dollars in insurance premiums the archdiocese has paid over the years, the group said, echoing the archdiocese’s arguments.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the CVA into law in February 2019, extending the time for victims of sexual abuse to bring civil suits and reopening the statute of limitations for legal claims for a one-year window beginning on Aug. 14, 2019.
In September 2019, the New York State Department of Financial Services issued a letter saying it expected insurers “to cooperate fully with the intent of the Child Victims Act.”