Ill. Orders Western Specialty into Liquidation

Illinois Insurance Director Nat Shapo announced that the Cook County Circuit Court issued an Order of Liquidation against Western Specialty Insurance Company of Oak Brook, Ill., on May 6, following a determination by the Department of Insurance that the company’s surplus was impaired by an amount in excess of $1 million, and at the request of the company’s board of directors.

Western Specialty is a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Holdings Incorporated. The company was originally incorporated in April 1986 as Oak Brook Property and Casualty Insurance Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of First Oak Brook Corporation Syndicate, which was placed into liquidation in 1996. The current name was adopted upon the sale of a majority interest in the company to current ownership in 1996.

The company is licensed in two states (California and Illinois) but operated on a surplus lines or non-admitted basis in seven additional states, concentrating its writings primarily in commercial multiple peril, workers’ compensation, other liability, and private passenger automobile coverages. On Dec. 31, 2001, the company reported gross written premium of approximately $7,500,000.

Any active business in the state in which the company was licensed will be canceled thirty-one (31) days from the date of the entry of the Order of Liquidation, on the policy’s expiration date, or when requested by the named insured, whichever occurs first. All other active policies in any other jurisdiction were canceled upon the entry of the Order of Liquidation.

The Order of Liquidation contains an injunction prohibiting suits against Western Specialty outside of the liquidation proceedings.

Topics Excess Surplus Illinois