Arbitrators to Determine Arbitrability of Claims in $1 Million Reinsurance Action

DETROIT — An arbitration panel should determine the arbitrability of claims accusing American National Insurance Co. of breaching a reinsurance contract by refusing to pay a nearly $1 million health insurance claim, a Michigan federal judge has ruled.

In an Aug. 31 order, Judge Paul D. Borman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan explained that the parties did not explicitly agree that a court should decide the applicability of a provision in the arbitration agreement limiting the time of arbitrability to three years.

“In fact, the Reinsurance Agreement provides that ‘if any dispute shall …