Notes from a Quiet Corner: User Concerns About Reinsurance Arbitration – And Attendant Lessons for Selection of Dispute Resolution Forums and Methods

Abstract

Arbitration between insurers and reinsurers – those who insure insurance companies – should logically run as smoothly as any arbitration process. Like the traditional commercial arbitration that drove enactment of the Federal Arbitration Act, reinsurance arbitration involves experienced actors in a confined industry in which the parties should be constructively aware of the rules, norms, customs and practices of the industry. But in spite of this, reinsurance arbitration experiences consistent problems of which the participants complain. This article reviews the complaints and exams possible solutions – including the possibility of arbitrating less and litigating more. Although these possible solutions would seem to have enough merit for at least some experimentation, reinsurers and insurers are unlikely to stray far from the existing arbitration system in spite of its shortcomings.

Keywords: Federal Arbitration Act, alternative dispute resolution, arbitration, reinsurance