Commonwealth Court Grants Pa. Dept.’s Petition for Legion, Villanova Companies

Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner M. Diane Koken on Tuesday announced that Commonwealth Court has granted final Orders of Liquidation for the Legion and Villanova Insurance Companies. The liquidation orders became effective July 28, 2003, at 12:01 a.m. These companies are now in liquidation.

“In August 2002, we determined that Legion did not have sufficient liquid assets available to pay its obligations as they came due,” Commissioner Koken said. “At that time, we petitioned Commonwealth Court for an Order of Liquidation.

“We are relieved to finally have the ability to move forward with liquidation. Many policyholders and other claimants were being impacted because they did not have access to state guaranty association coverage. The Court’s liquidation orders will now begin to trigger the state guaranty associations to pay policyholder claims to the maximum levels provided by law. In addition, by law, all Legion and Villanova policies will terminate within 30 days of this action.

“While the Court has concluded that Legion and Villanova are insolvent and should be liquidated, there are elements of the Orders which the Department will be appealing. Our foremost responsibility now is to take the necessary steps for the orderly liquidation of the companies.”

Legion Insurance Company and Villanova Insurance Company were both headquartered in Philadelphia and ultimately owned by Mutual Risk Management Ltd., a publicly held company organized in Bermuda. The Legion insurance group also included an Illinois surplus lines insurer, Legion Indemnity, which was liquidated in April 2003.

Legion and Villanova transacted insurance business in all 50 states. The companies wrote mainly commercial insurance products, including workers’ compensation, medical malpractice, general liability, group accident and health, and property coverages.