Munich Reinsurance asks court to dismiss Veritas claims

Munich Reinsurance America is suing captive Veritas to disclaim liability for a $9.25 million settlement of sexual misconduct allegations. It wants a declaration that it is not liable to reimburse the insurer.

In its complaint filed last week, Munich Re says it is not bound by Veritas’s coverage determinations or settlement. It also says the university failed to provide Veritas with timely written notice of the claims.

Munich is fighting a claim for a $2.6m contribution to the settlement amount and $3.2m in defence expenses under reinsurance policies.

The settlement an investigation last year which concluded that former university provost Martin A Philbert had sexually harassed eight women, and the university failed to investigate complaints properly.

Munich Re argues that Veritas flouted the policy terms of reinsurance in place at the time of the abuse by not timely notifying it of the first woman's claim. Reinsurance for 2019 to 2020 was not triggered, meanwhile, because the women's claims were not first made during that policy period, it says.