AMERICAN NAT’L, AIG SQUARE OFF

Responding to a lawsuit filed against it by American International Group (AIG), American National Insurance Company of Galveston, Texas, asserted that AIG breached its reinsurance agreement with the company by ignoring American National’s request for access to documents and records for Sept. 11 reinsurance claims. AIG sued American National in the U.S. Federal Court for the Southern District of New York. According to American National president Richard Ferdinandtsen, the lawsuit was filed in bad faith. He argued that the company has already paid millions of dollars in claims stemming from Sept. 11. American National has paid $1,200,000 for claims submitted by AIG, and was preparing to make an additional $5,400,000 payment to AIG, but had disputed $2,200,000 in recently submitted claims that did not appear to be related to the Sept. 11 tragedy or covered by the reinsurance agreement.