Reliance Insurance Company (in Liquidation) Receives AIRROC Annual Award as
"Team" of the Year

New Jersey, October 19, 2015

The Association of Insurance and Reinsurance Run-Off Companies (AIRROC) has named the “Team” at Reliance Insurance Co. (in Liquidation) as the winner of the 2015 Person of the Year award. 2015 marks the 11th year that AIRROC has bestowed this annual award.

The award was presented to the team on October 19 at AIRROC’s 11th annual Commutations and Networking Forum in New Brunswick, NJ. This award is presented each year to recognize those individuals who have had significant impact on the run-off industry.

Accepting the award were two key members of the leadership team at Reliance - David Brietling, Chief Liquidation Officer, and Keith Kaplan, Executive Vice President Reinsurance. Team members Betty Barrows, Joseph Savage, and Mary Maier were also in attendance. In presenting the award, Katherine Barker, AIRROC’s co-chair, acknowledged the credentials and significant experience that each individual has. “This award was created so that AIRROC can give recognition to someone that has had an impact in the legacy sector of the insurance industry. Team Reliance was chosen as they have addressed the difficult problems of their runoff in innovative and creative ways that has forever changed the ‘business as usual’ paradigm. A true working team is needed to accomplish the challenges faced by companies managing runoff business and to achieve superior results,” said Barker.

Reliance, the largest U.S property and casualty insolvency, was placed into liquidation in October 2001. The diverse and challenging issues arising from this liquidation have highlighted complex regulatory, legal and receivership questions.

Significantly, Reliance filed its application to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court in July 2014 to establish a bar date and enter the final phases of its liquidation. In acceptance of the award on behalf of his team, David Brietling noted some other key accomplishments in the winding up of Reliance: 1) processed over 99% of the 160k proofs of claim received, 2) collected over $4B in billings or commutation proceeds and another $300k was recorded through offsets, 3) distribution percentage to class (b) claimants is 40% with $382M paid to date and by year end 2015, subject to Court approval, the percentage will increase to 65% with another $240M in distributions. Also by the end of 2015, subject to Court approval, the Guaranty Associations (GAs) will receive another $390M for a total of $2.6B inception to date in early access cash advances to fund the $3.1B in payments made by those GAs under Reliance policies. Given the size and complexity of the operations and issues, the team has achieved its goals in managing the liquidation effectively while maximizing distributions and accelerating the liquidation time line.

AIRROC congratulates our first “team” winner for having the professional expertise and creativity in becoming a model for efficient and equitable ways to resolve complex issues. Butler Rubin Saltarelli and Boyd LLP sponsored the award.

The past recipients of the AIRROC award include: Anna Petropolous (2014); Karl Wall (2013); Robert Sherwood (2012); Gary Lee and Andrew Rothseid (2011); Mindy Kipness (2010), Barbara Murray (2009), Dan Schwartzmann (2008), Brian Snover (2007), Oliver Horbelt (2006), Paul Dassenko (2005).

AIRROC’s mission is to promote and represent the common interests of insurance and reinsurance companies with legacy business. The Association’s objectives include improving professional and managerial standards and practices and enhancing knowledge and communications within and outside of the run-off industry.

Contact information: Carolyn W. Fahey, Executive Director, AIRROC: 703-730-2808, [email protected]