Time Inc. sues over Scientology suit - suit with TIG Insurance Co.; Church of Scientology - Brief Article
The long-running court battle between Time Inc. and the Church of Sci entology has spun off yet another lawsuit-this one with Time’s insurance company. The publisher is seeking payment of more than $4 million from TIG Insurance Co., claiming breach of contract. The suit was filed in early April in the Southern District of New York federal court.
A 1991 Time piece on the Church of Scientology spawned the original two lawsuits-one filed by the church, the other by a follower. Irving, Texas-based TIG is arguing that because there are two separate suits, Time Inc. must pay the $3 million deductible twice. Time Inc., however, says that the deductible should be applied only once because the two suits are inextricably linked. “We’ve been trying to get them to acknowledge their responsibility to us,” says David Wolf, a Time Inc. lawyer. So far, the suits have cost the New York City-based publisher $7.4 million. And because the Scientology suits are ongoing, the expenses will continue to mount. Time Inc. has yet to receive any payment from TIG. (The insurer’s answer to the suit was due April 22.) TIG’s attorney could not be reached for comment.
Unitarian church hosts discussion on insurance
Joseph A. Jarvis, president of the Utah Health Alliance, will discuss “Universal Health Insurance — A Moral and Business Issue” on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. at the Wasatch Front Unitarian Fellowship at the Wagner Jewish Community Center, 2 N. Medical Drive.
The event is free. For more information, call 274-2605 or go online to: www.UtahUnitarian.org.
Atlanta Life Insurance Company and MetLife Resources Introduce Retirement Education Program to 1,000 Churches Connected
ATLANTA — Atlanta Life Insurance Company and MetLife, through its MetLife Resources division, announced its agreement with the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition to launch a retirement education program to the 1,000 Churches Connected.
“This is an exceptional opportunity for Atlanta Life,” said Ronald D. Brown, President and CEO, Atlanta Life Financial Group. “We proudly take our place as part of the team that will help to educate and provide assistance to the entire 1,000 Churches Connected family.”
1,000 Churches Connected is an initiative of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition designed to bring the message of economic responsibility to families through churches across the country. The focus of the program is to assist pastors, churches, church employees, and individual congregation members who currently lack or need to supplement their retirement benefit programs.
“MetLife Resources is honored to be chosen by Atlanta Life to partner with them to help educate ministers about retirement issues and the financial solutions available to them,” said Thomas G. Hogan, head of MetLife Resources. “Being a part of the recent 1,000 Churches Connected conference in Atlanta was a great first step. MetLife’s vision is to build financial freedom for everyone, and our representatives look forward to fulfilling this vision through continuing this educational program on a local level with ministers and their congregations.”
“The Atlanta Life Financial Group and MetLife look forward to working with each member of the 1,000 Churches Connected to achieve economic liberty and prosperity,” said Leonard Grimes, Vice President, Group and Reinsurance Sales.
Following the event, MetLife Resources representatives will travel to local churches to continue to educate about retirement issues.
MetLife’s and Atlanta Life’s relationship began in 2002 when MetLife and Atlanta Life’s flagship insurance subsidiary, Atlanta Life Insurance Company, formed a reinsurance alliance to provide group life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment benefits. Atlanta Life is also the investment manager of $150 million of MetLife’s general account assets.
About Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
The Rainbow PUSH Coalition is a progressive organization, which seeks to protect, defend and gain civil rights, even the economic and educational playing fields in all aspects of American life and bring peace to the world. The organization is headquartered at 930 E. 50th St. in Chicago. For more information about the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, please visit the organization’s website, www.rainbowpush.org, or telephone (773) 373-3366.
About MetLife
MetLife Resources, a division of MetLife (Metropolitan Life Insurance Company), provides retirement plans and other financial services to healthcare, education, and not-for-profit organizations. Annuities issued by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, New York, NY 10166. MetLife variable annuities are sold by prospectus only. The prospectus contains information about the product’s features, investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses and the investment objectives, risks and policies of the underlying funding options, which should be considered carefully before investing. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.
MetLife, a subsidiary of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) is a leading provider of insurance and other financial services to millions of individual and institutional customers throughout the United States. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, MetLife, Inc. offers life insurance, annuities, automobile and homeowner’s insurance and retail banking services to individuals, as well as group insurance, reinsurance and retirement and savings products and services to corporations and other institutions. Outside the U.S., the MetLife companies have direct insurance operations in Asia Pacific, Latin America and Europe. For more information, please visit www.metlife.com.
About Atlanta Life
Atlanta Life Insurance Company is an operating unit of Atlanta Life Financial Group. Atlanta Life Insurance Company provides group life products to Fortune 500 companies and funding products to help consumers preplan and prearrange their funerals. Atlanta Life Financial Group, Inc. is a privately owned financial services company that helps consumers, businesses and communities build and protect wealth. Its other business unit, Atlanta Life Investment Advisors, offers portfolio products that help institutions and high net worth individuals build and protect wealth. For more information about Atlanta Life, please visit the company’s Web site at www.atlantalife.com.
The long-running court battle between Time Inc. and the Church of Sci entology has spun off yet another lawsuit-this one with Time’s insurance company. The publisher is seeking payment of more than $4 million from TIG Insurance Co., claiming breach of contract. The suit was filed in early April in the Southern District of New York federal court.
A 1991 Time piece on the Church of Scientology spawned the original two lawsuits-one filed by the church, the other by a follower. Irving, Texas-based TIG is arguing that because there are two separate suits, Time Inc. must pay the $3 million deductible twice. Time Inc., however, says that the deductible should be applied only once because the two suits are inextricably linked. “We’ve been trying to get them to acknowledge their responsibility to us,” says David Wolf, a Time Inc. lawyer. So far, the suits have cost the New York City-based publisher $7.4 million. And because the Scientology suits are ongoing, the expenses will continue to mount. Time Inc. has yet to receive any payment from TIG. (The insurer’s answer to the suit was due April 22.) TIG’s attorney could not be reached for comment.
Reps. draft bill to prevent insurance companies from canceling policies of torched churches - John Conyers, Cynthia McKinney and Bob Filne support Black churches targeted by arsonists - Brief Article
Concerned House members are on Capitol Hill drafting legislation to prevent insurance companies from canceling insurance policies of churches burned by arsonists.
The coalition includes Reps. John Conyers (D-MI), Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) and Bob Filne (D-CA), who are seeking to stabilize the unsettled conditions in the church insurance business.
Rep. Conyers said that he had been contacted by a number of congregations with complaints and concerns that some insurance companies are refusing to renew church insurance policies or are raising premiums.
“It’s not yet clear if there has been a pattern of cancellation, but even one cancellation would be extremely insensitive and disturbing,” Rep. Conyers said, noting there have been at least six documented cases around the country.
The legislation titled “Protect Our Churches Insurance Act” will (1) prohibit cancellation or failure to renew fire insurance because of religious arson, (2) prohibit increases in premiums, (3) provide that houses of worship cannot be penalized because of arson, and (4) allow penalties to $500,000 for civil violations.
Recognizing that some companies are working to help churches, Rep. McKinney said, “It is our sincere hope that the insurance industry will step forward and make the bid unnecessary.”
Unitarian church hosts discussion on insurance
OLDWICK, N.J. — A.M. Best Co. has revised the outlook of the financial strength rating (FSR) of A- (Excellent) to stable from negative for Church Life Insurance Corporation (Church Life) (New York, NY). Concurrently, A.M. Best has assigned an issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a-” and affirmed the FSR of Church Life. The outlook assigned to the ICR is stable.
The revised outlook primarily reflects the numerous initiatives Church Life has implemented in recent periods to expand its business profile and increase premium production as well as improve its operating results. In addition, Church Life has maintained adequate levels of risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy (BCAR). While Church Life’s operating results have fluctuated over the past five years due to reserve adjustments, licensing and compliance fees and fluctuations in group life benefits, it experienced an increase in net operating gains in recent periods in the individual annuity and group life lines of business. The increased operating gains can be attributable to lower than expected mortality in the group life line of business and reserve releases in the individual annuity line of business.
While operating results have improved, A.M. Best recognizes that Church Life could be challenged to produce consistent profitable premium growth in the near term due to spread compression in the annuity line of business and its limited customer base. A.M. Best will continue to monitor Church Life’s ability to increase premium growth and maintain its current level of profitability.
For Best’s Ratings, an overview of the rating process and rating methodologies, please visit www.ambest.com/ratings.
Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is a global full-service credit rating organization dedicated to serving the financial and health care service industries, including insurance companies, banks, hospitals and health care system providers. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.
GuideOne Insurance
GuideOne Insurance has announced the appointment of PAUL LARSON to the company’s board of directors, according to Jim Wallace, president and chief executive officer of GuideOne. Larson retired in March 1999 as president of Equitable Life of Iowa and its subsidiary USG Annuity and Life. Larson’s extensive background includes financial management, mergers and acquisitions, strategic planning, customer service and administration, investor relations and investments.
Founded in 1947 mid headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, GuideOne Insurance is a nationally recognized property and casualty niche market insurer and a leading insurer of churches in the United States.
Church crimewave sweeps Britain
A CAMPAIGN to reduce the multi-million pound cost of vandalism, burglary and arson committed in churches every year will be launched today at Britain’s first national conference on ecclesiastical crime.
Catholic, Anglican and Free Church officials will meet representatives from police forces in England and Wales to discuss ways of implementing “church watch” schemes run along the same lines as neighbourhood watch initiatives.
worship are increasingly seen as a soft targets by thieves and vandals. Last year the Ecclesiastical Insurance Group (EIG), which is the main insurer of Church of England property, paid out pounds 4m in damages. Nick Tolson, a former police officer who has organised the conference in Wells, Somerset, has calculated, on the basis of figures from six police forces, that as many as 25,000 recorded crimes are committed against the 17,000 Anglican churches in England and Wales each year. However, Mr Tolson believes that locking churches during the day is no solution. He piloted a “church watch” scheme in the Bath and Wells diocese, in which churches alerted each other if an outbreak of vandalism or burglary took place at a place of worship. The number of crimes against the churches fell from 87 to 14 in a year. “Most people think that if you keep a church open during the day an opportunist crime will occur,” he said. “However, as long as you have frequent checks by locals, you lower the risk of crime. If you have something locked people think there is something worth stealing.” Mr Tolson wants to work more closely with the police to target professional criminals who travel the country stealing large items to order. “Two brass lecterns are stolen from each of the 42 dioceses every year,” he said. “Each one is worth pounds 30,000 to pounds 40,000. There are several theories, but one is that they are ordered by fascist groups in Europe, because the brass eagle is as much of a Nazi symbol as a Christian one.” A church worker has been arrested by detectives investigating the disappearance of pounds 25,000 from parish funds at a church in Hampshire. The 48-year-old man has been released on police bail pending further inquiries into the missing money. The man, who has not been named, was arrested early last week after the deficit appeared in the accounts of Bishops Sutton Parochial Church Council.
Insurer drops misconduct training requirement
For an Episcopal group to buy insurance from Church Insurance Co., it had to complete eight hours of sexual misconduct awareness training. But the company recently filed to remove that prerequisite, citing loss of business to other companies without the requirement.
Rod Webster, Church Insurance senior vice president, told Episcopal Life that the company feels the requirement is no longer necessary because it wouldn’t use the lack of this training to “walk away from a claim” related to sexual misconduct.
Jack Sauerman, ELCA insurance manager, says Charity First, which provides insurance for many ELCA congregations, doesn’t require sexual misconduct awareness training but could in the future. He says the trend is for insurance companies to require groups to prove that they’re prepared for potential lawsuits.
“In effect, the insurance industry is saying if you want certain types of coverage, show us … you are taking the appropriate steps to manage the associated risks,” he says.
Church insurance suit goes to Federal Court
A lawsuit filed by the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese against Lloyd’s of London and 13 other insurance companies has been transferred to Federal Court.
The suit had been filed Dec. 23 in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. It seeks unspecified damages from the insurance firms for their failure to pay claims against the archdiocese from victims of sexual assaults.
The suit was moved to Federal Court at the request of the 14 defendants. They said the suit belonged in Federal Court because it involved a sum of money greater than $50,000 and involved interstate commerce. All of the defendants have received extensions of the time limit for their replies to the archdiocese suit.
Insurers increasingly have taken a hard-line stance on sexual abuse coverage. As a result, many churches, Protestant as well as Catholic, have found it increasingly difficult to find or renew policies for coverage.
In similar cases elsewhere, insurance companies have argued that the church hierarchy knew of the sexual misconduct and failed to take appropriate action. Therefore, they argue, the misconduct was intentional on the part of the diocese and not covered by the insurance policies.
The Milwaukee archdiocese has refused to disclose how much it has spent to settle or defend itself against lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct by its priests. However, in 1993, Weakland revealed that the archdiocese had set aside $2 million to cover potential damages.
No civil case involving such priest misconduct has gone to trial locally. Many cases have been dismissed; some of those are being appealed. Secret settlements have been reached in other cases.
The suit against the insurance firms has been assigned to Magistrate Judge Patricia Gorence.