A reinsurance dispute between Guarantee Trust and American Medical has been ongoing for some time; we posted prior updates in March 2011 and July 2013. Most recently, Guarantee Trust filed motions seeking to file a second amended complaint to add a request for specific performance and seeking a preliminary injunction requiring American Medical to post a bond to prevent a potential insolvency from impeding Guarantee Trust’s collection of any future judgment. The court denied both motions. No amended complaint would be allowed because Guarantee Trust could not show “excusable neglect” for having waited so long after its “need” for the equitable remedy first arose – months after the deteriorated financial strength of American Medical was publicized. Because Guarantee Trust had no equitable relief in its complaint and only a claim for money damages, the court ruled that it had no power to enjoin American Medical’s use of its property by requiring it to post a bond. Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Co. v. American Medical & Life Insurance Co., Case No. 10 C 2125 (USDCN.D. Ill. May 5, 2014).
