Structured Settlements 4Real® Blog: Structured Settlements | Settlement Planning News and John Darer Reviews

QARP and UCC Article 9 | Choice of Law Considerations in AL, AK, ND, NM, TX, WI, WY, DC

by John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT RSP CLTC

A Qualfied Assignment Release and Pledge Agreement (QARP) is a type of qualified assignment that gives a
structured settlement payee a security interest in the qualified funding asset pursuant to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). 

What is a Qualified Assignment? (4structures.com)

What is the Uniform Commerical Code?

The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) is a standardized set of regulations for conducting business and financial transactions in any state in the USA as well as the District of Columbia and US Territories. The UCC governs a wide range of transactions, including the sale of goods, secured transactions, negotiable instruments, as well as others. It provides rules and guidelines for parties engaged in business dealings, ensuring consistency and predictability.

State-specific variations exist within the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). While the UCC is standardized across states, each state may introduce slight modifications or adaptations to particular sections. Generally, these alterations are minor and do not substantially affect the UCC's overall uniformity.

How Does Article 9 of the UCC and Impact the Rights of a Structured Settlement Payee?

Article 9 of the UCC overrides any language in the QARP that would restrict the claimant's ability to assign the right to receive their payment.

This poses a problem for  the QARP because structured settlement annuities must restrict the claimant's ability to assign their payments, While many states have carved out an exception for structured settlement agreements, some have not and this may impact choice of law selection for the QARP with certain annuity issuers.

Seven States and DC That Have Not Expressly Exempted Structured Settlement Agreements from the UCC

Alabama

Alaska

New Mexico

North Dakota  

Texas

Wisconsin

Wyoming

District of Columbia

These 8 juridictions may not be permitted to be used for Choice of law on the QARP.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is a Qualified Assignment Release and Pledge Agreement (QARP)?

by John Darer CLI ChFC MSSC CeFT RSP CLTC

A Qualified Assignment Release and Pledge Agreement (QARP) is a legal document, the execution of which sets the second stage of a structured settlement transaction in motion (see below).

Qualified Assignment Release and Pledge Agreements (QARPs) are used in personal injury structured settlements, or wrongful death structured settlements, where there is a desire for the Payee to have secured party status.  

What are the components of a QARP?

1. Structured Settlement: A structured settlement is a negotiated financial arrangement where as part of the consideration for the release of claims, the defendant or its/their insurers agree to make one or more customized streams of periodic payments to the plaintiff (injured party). A structured settlement is not an all or nothing  arrangement.  

2. Qualified Assignment: A qualified assignment is type of assignment used to establish a structured settlement, that complies with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 130. A qualified assignment is an intrinsic part of a structured settlement transaction where the periodic payments represent damages for personal physical injury or physical sickness, wrongful death or workers compensation claims. Meeting the requirements is essential so that the assignment is considered "qualified" for tax purposes, and the defendant or insurer can generally claim a tax deduction for the qualified assignment.

3. Release: The plaintiff typically agrees to release the defendant or insurer from any further liability related to the original claim in exchange for the promise to make the periodic payments (structured settlement payments).This release is a crucial part of the agreement.

4. Pledge:   In the Pledge part of the QARP, typical language includes "the Assignee-Debtor pledges and grants to Claimant-Secured Party a lien on and security interest in all of Assignee-Debtor's right, title, and  interest in the Annuity and all payments therefrom in order to secure the obligation of Assignee-Debtor to make the Periodic Payments. Assignee-Debtor and Claimant-Secured Party shall notify Annuity Issuer of the lien created under this Agreement, and Assignee-Debtor shall deliver  Assignee-Debtor shall have all rights of ownership and control in the Annuity, including the right to receive and retain all benefits under the Annuity, which are not inconsistent with the security interest granted inthe QARP, and Claimant- Secured Party shall have no right to anticipate, sell, assign, pledge, encumber, or otherwise exercise any right with respect to the Annuity, so long as Assignee-Debtor has not failed due to insolvency or bankruptcy to make any of the Periodic Payments. If such a failure occurs and is
   continuing, Claimant-Secured Party shall have all of the rights and remedies of a secured party
   under the law then in effect in the State of________________

All settlement documents should be carefully drafted to comply with both federal and state laws governing structured settlements and assignments. Additionally, individuals entering into such agreements often seek legal and financial advice to ensure they make informed decisions.

Sampling of other John Darer Reviews of topics and sub-topics of Qualified Assignments:

• Structured Settlements with Inclusive Qualified Assignments (4structures.com)
• Qualified Assignments With Multiple Family Members on Same Form | Why Its May Not Be Such a Good Idea - Structured Settlements 4Real® Blog: Structured Settlements | Settlement Planning News and John Darer Reviews (typepad.com)
• If You See a Qualified Assignment and Release Like This, Seek a Second Opinion - Structured Settlements 4Real® Blog: Structured Settlements | Settlement Planning News and John Darer Reviews (typepad.com)
• Qualified Assignments and Tax Rules Concerning Structured Settlements - Structured Settlements 4Real® Blog: Structured Settlements | Settlement Planning News and John Darer Reviews (typepad.com)
• What is a Qualified Assignment? (4structures.com)

Last updated June 18, 2024

Pacific Life & Annuity Services Inc. Redomiciles from Colorado to Missouri

by John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT RSP CLTC

Pacific Life Structured Settlements

Pacific Life & Annuity Services, Inc. redomiciled from Colorado to Missouri effective July 1, 2022

Pacific Life & Annuity Services, Inc., is the qualified assignment company for all Pacific Life branded structured settlements and include underwriting companies Pacific Life Insurance Company in all states but New York and Pacific Life & Annuity Company for all Pacific Life funded structured settlements where there are touch points to New York.  [e.g. New York litigants, litigation in New York Courts]  

Read What is a Qualified Assignment?

 

 

Workers Compensation Structured Settlements | Qualified Assignments On or AFTER August 5, 1997 Filings?

by John Darer® CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT RSP CLTC

Workers Compensation Qualified Assignments for Structured Settlements

Qualified assignment only became available for workers compensation cases filed AFTER August 5, 1997.

The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 amended the Internal Revenue Code, adding workers’ compensation payments under IRC § 104(a)(1) to the language of IRC §130, making them eligible for qualified assignment the same as physical injury or physical sickness tort claim payments under IRC § 104(a)(2), but applicable to claims under workmen’s compensation acts filed after the date of the enactment of the Taxpayer Relief Act (August 5, 1997).

On or prior to August 5, 1997, workers compensation parties could only make limited use of structured settlements where the future periodic payment liabilities were assigned (at the Safeco Life's SAFECO National facility) or through reinsurance, where the employer was insured.

 

 

What is a Structured Settlement Policyholder?

by John Darer® CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT® RSP CLTC

Members of the settlement community have a responsibility to accurately describe structured settlement and/or settlement planning related terms and jargon.  Who better than the experts? 

Inaccurate use of industry jargon gets picked up by content generators without the expertise to correct the inaccuracy, which then proliferates to the detriment of consumers and the industry as a whole. 

A good example of this is where factoring companies claim to buy structured settlement annuities and tertiary market companies claim to sell structured settlement annuities under the label "secondary market annuities" 

Some other examples:

• Awarded a settlement
• Sell your settlement

Structured Settlement Annuitants inaccurately described as a Policyholders

 Let me break it down for you.

• A structured settlement is a method of settling a lawsuit in exchange for part of the damages being paid in a negotiated stream or streams of future periodic payments.
• A tax-exempt structured settlement is funded with a "qualified funding asset", which is often a structured settlement annuity, however it may also be funded with obligations of the United States Government (Treasury Funded Structured Settlement)
• When a structured settlement is funded with an annuity, the terms of the annuity are set forth in an annuity contract issued by a life insurance company.
• The purchase of a structured settlement annuity contact can be done in several ways:

A. Buy and hold method

Buy and hold is where the structured annuity is purchased and held by the purchaser.  When it comes to establishing a structured settlement the purchaser cannot be the payee, so if the buy and hold method is used the purchaser is either the Defendant, or the Defendant's Insurer.  In a buy and hold, the policyholder is the Defendant or the Defendant's insurer.

B. Qualified Assignment method

When a qualified assignment is used in an annuity funded structured settlement,  the future periodic payment obligation is assigned, with the consent of the parties, to a qualified assignment company, which is generally a subsidiary of the life insurer or a related entity in the corporate family. The qualified assignment company then purchases the qualified funding asset. With the qualified assignment method, the qualified assignment company is policyholder.  See How Structured Settlements Work | Structured Settlements Explained (4structures.com)

C. Non Qualified Assignment method

A tax deferred structured settlement method used when a structured settlement is desired but damages are taxable. When a non qualified assignment is used in an annuity funded structured settlement,  the future periodic payment obligation is assigned, with the consent of the parties, to a non qualified assignment company, which may be an offshore company**, often in Barbados,  and an unrelated entity to the annuity issuer. The annuity issuer may provide a guarantee of performance or a keep well agreement of the assignment company.  Similar to a qualified assignment, the non qualified assignment company then purchases the qualified funding asset. With the non qualified assignment method, the non qualified assignment company is policyholder.

D. Reinsurance Method

Reinsurance, in its simplest terms, is insurance of an insurance company, a form of risk transfer.  In terms of risk bearing there is a similarity to the buy and hold and assignment concepts when using three party reinsurance agreements in lieu of assignments.  A three party reinsurance with release sees the releasing party consent to look to the insurer for future payments instead of its reinsured, the insurer of the defendant.  With a two party reinsurance agreement there is still contingent liability for the insurer (reinsured) similar to a buy and hold.  Regardless of the reinsurance method, the person who receives the reinsurance structured settlement payments is not a "policy holder" or a  reinsured for that matter.

So what is the person receiving the payments called?

The Payee, The Annuitant, the Measuring Life, or possibly in the case of Reinsurance, the Reinsured ( In some cases more than one of these)

You may enjoy my parody of an old joke to help illustrate the difference  An Annuitant, A Measuring Life, A Payee and a Beneficiary Walked Into A Bar...  April 12, 2012

Can a policyholder receive payments from a  structured settlement annuity?

Yes, where a Defendant or Defendant's Insurer has used the buy and hold to purchase an installment refund annuity or a cash refund annuity.  This would occur where a Defendant or Defendant's insurer has a large New York judgment to pay subject to New York CPLR Articles 50A or 50B. or other elsewhere where a significant life contingent cash flow being structured elects to insure against mortality risk where there obligation only exists where the plaintiff is alive.

PostScript  

**Since 2021, there are a number of entities that have domestic non qualified assignment companies. 

AGL Assignment Company is a non qualified assignment company for non qualified structured settlement ustilizing annuities and funding agreements issued by Corebridge Financial subsidiaries, American General Life Insurance Company  (all states except New York) and United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York  (New York cases). A Funding Agreement is not an insurance policy. Ergo, payee is not a policyholder for that reason as well.

MetLife Assignment Company, Inc. is domestic assignment company used for BOTH qualified assignments and non qualified assignmnet where the annuity issuer is Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance company.

Last updated February 16, 2024

 

If You Do a Structured Settlement, Where Does The Settlement Money Go?

by John Darer® CLU ChFC CeFT MSSC RSP CLTC

How Does a Settlement Happen?

A settlement arises when two or more parties negotiate an agreement to resolve a dispute, involving consideration that could be the payment of compensation or the fulfillment of certain obligations. This settlement process can occur before a lawsuit is filed, during the litigation, or even after a verdict has been reached.

When the lawsuit is settled, it's a compromise and there is a negotiated agreement between the parties The agreement may have been reached after a day at mediation, at a settlement conference in the judge's chambers, at a meeting in a lawyer's office,  or over the phone

A structured settlement annuity is an insurance contract. The insurance industry is highly regulated and a license is required to solicit and to place structured settlement anuities. You can easily verify if someone is licensed.

The Process of Establishing a Structured Settlement

As part of the compromise,  there is a negotiated agreement that some portion of the settlement is paid in the future, with the future beginning as soon as a one month and depending on the terms of settlement, may be payable for a lifetime.  There are different types of structured settlement payments that can be customized and then used alone or in combination with other types of payments in one settlement plan. The specific terms of the future payments must be included in the settlement agreement, the legal document which releases the defendant and its insurer from liability. the future payments are said to be part of the consideration for the settlement of the claim or lawsuit. You cannot be in constructive receipt or actual receipt of settlement funds and then structure.

Where does the money go when a structured settlement is set up?

Structured settlement payments are generally funded with specialized structured settlement annuities. Structured settlement annuities are issued by some of the largest, regulated life insurance companies in the United States.  Five such companies have been in business since the 1800s!  Visit the Structured Settlement Annuity Company Museum, where you will see a 1937 New York Life Insurance Company advertisement that it has made it 'through every panic since 1845!". Now New York Life is 171 years young. One or more annuity issuers may be used for competitive pricing and/or for diversification.

As part of terms of the structured settlement, most settlement agreements provide that the obligation to pay the future payments can be assigned to a qualified assignment company

This is because defendants and insurers generally have no interest in keeping an open ended obligation. From the plaintiff perspective, in some cases the plaintiff does not want anything more to do with the defendant and in his/her mind because the insurer is defending or paying the cost of the defense, the insurer as well.

With few exceptions, qualified assignment companies are generally special purpose companies that do little else than taking assignments of periodic payment obligations from defendants and insurers.

Qualified Assignment companies receive amount being structured and pay it to the structured settlement annuity issuer after deducting a modest $0 to $750 assignment fee ( which varies by company). So if the cost of the structure is $500,000 and the annuity issued by Metropolitan Life, the assignment fee of $750 is deducted and the balance of goes to the annuity issuer.  Once all the annuity issue requirements are in and determined to be in good order, the annuity issuer issues the annuity.

Is a Structured Settlement Annuity like a bank account?

• This is a more common question or source of confusion than one might think, particularly from young adults who learn they are scheduled to receive payments for the first time.
• A structured settlement annuity is a special type of insurance contract that is used to fund the payment of damages agreed to as part of a settlement or a periodic payment judgment
• An insurance license is required to sell and place an annuity. While you may see someone at a desk in your local bank attempting to cross-sell insurance to the bank's customers, that individual would have to possess an active insurance license in the state of solicitation.
  
• While you will receive monthly statements or online statements from your bank you will not receive such statements since the interest is implicit in the contract.  you have a printed schedule that sets forth the amount(s) of the structured settlement payments and when you will receive the payments.

Last updated June 5, 2024

 

Electronic Policy Delivery Is Convenient, But Not Always Well Received By Plaintiffs/ or Survivors

by John Darer® CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT RSP CLTC

Electronic delivery of structured settlement annuity contracts and other executed settlement documents has become the rule rather than the exception (Update)

While this appeals to those individuals and companies that want to reduce the environmental impact of paper consumption, save clutter, save physical storage space and reduce administrative costs, one needs to be cognizant that there may be some people that need something more tangible, for good reason.

Something Tangible and Thinking of Beneficiaries

1. For the injured party, who has only recently been introduced to structured settlements, it may represent something tangible for their loss. 
2. For their beneficiaries, when they die and if there are remamning paymenst, it is something that can be found in a drawer, box  or file cabinet after a death. Electronic copies of structured settlement documents stored on a computer may be useless and inaccessible, if someone cannot get into a phone computer, or cloud account, or if  accounts are frozen at the notice of death. 

Couldn't they just call the structured settlement broker?  What if the structured settlement broker is retired, deceased, or has switched companies or your don't know their name because they annuity was set up, for example, by the payee's grandmother when the payee was a child and granny's been gone for 15 years?  What if their firm has been disbanded?  It's hard enough when life insurance companies leave the market or merge. 

Secured Creditor Pledge

Sending a hard copy of a structured settlement annuity policy by FEDEX, UPS, USPS express mail or certified mail, with delivery signature required is more assured than an email delivery that offers the end recipient the opportunity to not acknowledge receipt. 

"Value for Money" Image

When the original version of this post was published in 2015,  electronic delivery of policies was in its infancy.  My thoughts then were that when you're allocating $1,000,000 or more of your settlement on an annuity contact it was not unreasonable to expect something more than an email with a pdf attached. Today it's well beyond its ascendancy and many people are used to getting digital copies. At the very least, life insurers that issue structured settlement annuities, are encouraged to offer a choice, and not simply default to the electronic delivery. 

Last updated January 14, 2024

Helpful link

Structured Settlement Annuity Company Customer Service Phone Numbers (4structures.com)

 

 

 

Index Linked Structured Settlement Annuity | IRS Publishes PLR Affirming Tax Status

by John Darer® CLU ChFC MSSC RSP CLTC

The favorable tax treatment of index linked structured settlement payments, was affirmed by the IRS in Private Letter Ruling 201435006,  published on August 29, 2014. 

As I reported here on April 16, 2014, the Private Letter Ruling was requested by Pacific Life Insurance Company and received in April 2014 just prior to the release of its Index Linked Annuity Payment Adjustment Rider  (ILAPA).

The IRS ruling's specific findings on the Pacific Life ILAPA Rider were:

1. The periodic payments of damages that Claimant will receive are fixed and determinable as to amount and time of payment within the meaning of § 130(c)(2)(A) even though they are calculated pursuant to an objective formula based on the performance of the S&P 500 Index.

2. The Structured Settlement Indexed Annuity which Assignee will acquire from
either Issuer 1 or Issuer 2 will not fail to qualify as a qualified funding asset under
§ 130(d) solely by reason of annuity’s variable payments.

3. The possibility of a commutation by Claimant pursuant to the Notice of Hardship
Conversion will not affect whether the structured settlement assignment satisfies
the requirements of a qualified assignment under § 130(c).

4. The annuity purchased by Assignee will not fail to be a qualified funding asset
under § 130(d) by reason of the Notice of Hardship Conversion.

Read about the differences between Index Linked Structured Settlement Payments and Equity Indexed Annuities.

 Copy of PLR 201435006  Download PLR 201435006 Index Linked Structured Settlement

The Notice of Hardship Conversion is not currently offered by Pacific Life but this appears to be a stage setter for its future introduction in the near future.

Can An Individual Enter Into Qualified Assignment As Assignor and Qualify under IRC §130

by John Darer® CLU ChFC MSSC RSP CLTC

An individual can enter into a qualified assignment as the assignor and the assignment will qualify under IRC §130

• The individual must be a party to a suit or agreement and the payment obligations being assigned must be exempt from income tax under IRC 104 (1) or IRC 104(a)(2)- generally on account of physical injury physical sickness, wrongful death, or workers compensation.
• The individual would have to have enough money to cover the cost of the qualified funding asset(s), which, pursuant to IRC §130(d) , may be  a structured settlement annuity or an obligation of the United States government.

While liability insurers and self-insured corporations are the most common type of assignor, for IRC §130 qualified assignments, an individual  with sufficient financial resources could be an assignor if:

• The individual has no insurance; or.
• The individual is under insured and the damages for the claim against the individual exceed the policy limits of insurance coverage;or
• The individual is insured but the insurer has denied coverage; or
• The individual's insurance company is insolvent.

An individual could also be the assignor if a structured settlement is for taxable damages, a so-called non qualified assignment, non qualified structured settlement, or tax deferred structured settlement.

Examples:

• taxable elements of a divorce settlement
• resolving a business dispute
• resolving a property dispute

Reliance Owned Structured Settlement Annuities | Reliance Liquidation

by John Darer CLU ChFC CSSC RSP CLTC

When the owner of structured settlement annuities becomes insolvent, "what happens, or should happen, to structured settlement payees?" asks Patrick Hindert in a March 17, 2013 blog post.

Unlike Executive Life Insurance Company of New York (ELNY) where there is an insolvent assignmment company AND an insolvent annuity issuer, in the Reliance case there is a solvent life insurer and an insolvent qualified assignment company which is subject to a liquidation.

The issue of bankrupt assignee and solvent annuity issuer has been addressed before in 1991 [See " In Re Monarch Capital Corporation  130 B.R. 368 (Bankr. D. Mass. 1991), 25 CBC2d 751 ]

 11 U.S.C. § 362(d). Automatic Stay; Relief from Stay. A life insurance company, subsidiary of a chapter 11 corporation is obliged to continue to make payments pursuant to an assigned structured settlement annuity policy without a violation of the automatic stay and without becoming subject to any claim on behalf of the bankruptcy estate of the parent debtor.(Collier on ~bankruptcy, 15th ed., 3:362.07)

In this case, in order to finalize the liquidation, the liquidator is seeking to transfer the ownership of the annuities to the payees, an event which may make the interest portion of the structured settlement payments taxable to the payees.  From a potential tax standpoint the plaintiff's ownership,  would not be unlike the payee receiving cash when the case was settled, instead of taking a structure and investing themselves. Structured settlement annuities are typically held by Defendants, insurers or qualified assignment companies to avoid constructive or actual receipt by the payee. When a legal case is concluded with a structured settlement, the plaintiff only has a structured settlement payment right emanating from the Defendant's or insurer's promise to pay in exchange for a release of liability  [a qualified assignment company is involved, if there has been a substitution of obligors].

As Hindert has observed, the Reliance Liquidator has concluded that transferring ownership of the annuity contracts (that have been serving as a "qualified funding asset", to current payees under those contracts, with the simultaneous discharge of Reliance’s related structured settlement payment obligations:

• Would be in the “best interest” of the Reliance Estate and represents “the only viable option”; and
• Would not create any federal income tax liability for Reliance.

The payees deserve to be notified of the potential tax ramifications. While the Liquidator assumes Reliance structured settlement annuity issuers have the ability to furnish individual notice, the Liquidator plans to publish notice in multiple regional and national newspapers.

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION !

Are you or a loved one receiving payments from a Genworth Life structured settlement annuity

Did you or a loved one originally have a structured annuity that was issued by United Pacific Life Insurance Company or United Pacific Reliance Life?

If the answer is yes, check your paperwork to see if the owner of the annuity is Reliance Insurance Company or a Reliance subsidiary.  If you are having a problem determining this information, please have the Genworth, UPL or UPRL contract number handy and THEN contact the structured settlement broker who you worked with or the Genworth immediate annuity customer service toll-free number at 888-322-4629

Genworth Third Party ratings

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United Pacific Life/ Reliance Historical Timeline (juxtaposed with other contemporaneous notable financial  events)

1982  United Pacific Life is founded     [The same year as the Baldwin United failure. Baldwin United was one of the top business failures of the 20th Century.]

1983 United Pacific Reliance Life of NY is founded  [The same year as the Charter Security failure]

1984 September-October  Insurance regulators and attorneys general from 37 states agreed to coordinate efforts to recover losses suffered by holders of Baldwin-United annuities. The officials will file civil lawsuits or take administrative action aganist brokers who sold the policies. 12 of the largest brokerage houses announced a $135 million settlement of class-action suits filed by Baldwin customers. Three other brokerages are negotiating to buy the insurance units of Charter Corporation, an oil service company that introduced SPDAs but was later forced to file for bankruptcy.  On October 10, 1984 Christian Science Monitor refers to Baldwin United as one of the worst financial services debacles of this decade.

1987  October Stock Market Crash sending Reliance stock value plummeting

1989  United Pacific Life sells $1 billion in annuity premium, mostly through banks.

September 19, 1991   Weiss Research reports that large life insurers are shedding their holdings in junk bonds by an average of 26% in the first 6 months of 1991. The LA Times reports that junk bonds make up to 1/3 of United Pacific Life Insurance Company's portfolio and is partly responsible for the company's downgrade.

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Side bar to ELNY annuitants and interested parties

September 19, 1991 LA Times  "Since it is virtually impossible in today's marketplace  (1991) to duplicate the double-digit returns that junk bonds promise, insurance executives say policyholders will face higher premiums as insurers seek alternate ways to make money.

"Most companies Weiss cited as having sold junk bonds were able to break even or make a small profit. In most cases the proceeds were reinvested in higher-grade corporate securities at far lower yields".

"Jackson National, for example, had been earning 14.32% annually on its RJR Nabisco junk bonds, which have largely outperformed the junk-bond market. The insurer reinvested the proceeds in securities yielding 10%". 

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1992 United Pacific Life sells $110 million in annuity premiums

April 6, 1993

GE Capital Services Agrees to buy United Pacific Life for $550 million. Deal is effective July 14, 1993  {Source: Edgar online]. UPL has $6B in assets according to a New York Times report on the acquisition. [Note that the NYT inaccurately states "Pacific Life" in the title. No relation to Pacific Life that currently issues structured settlements]  The same report quotes a Salamon Brothers analyst who said that "consumers who put large amounts into annuities were particularly sensitive to the reputation and security of the company they were dealing with".

April 1, 1994  United Pacific Life Insurance company name is replaced with General Electric Capital Assurance Company  (GECA) [Source: State filings]

October 3, 2001  Philadelphia Inquirer reports "Philadelphia-based Reliance Insurance Co. has been declared insolvent by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department (after being in rehab for a year).  Analysts blame Reliance's collapse on the massive debts the company incurred during Steinberg's management and on an ill-fated aggressive expansion during the 1990s, in which the company wrote billions of dollars in high-risk policies at bargain prices, then found itself responsible for massive unexpected losses".

"By almost any measurement, Reliance was the largest insurance liquidation in history"  Wikipedia

January 1, 2006 GECA becomes Genworth Life Insurance Company with the GE spinoff of GE Capital Financial Assurance Holdings, Inc. (GEFA)  [ source : state filings]

March 2011 Lessons from the Demise of Kemper Insurance and Reliance Group: The collapse of two insurance industry titans offers lessons for how to navigate today's uncertain business environment