United States Federal Court Dismisses Claims against Saint Lucia Insurer Bancroft Life & Casualty ICC, Ltd.

CASTRIES, Saint Lucia--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas has dismissed all counterclaims asserted against Saint Lucia insurer Bancroft Life & Casualty ICC, Ltd. (“Bancroft”) by a defaulted debtor, FFD Resources III, LLC, and a former Bancroft certificate holder, FFD Ventures, LP.

The case, Bancroft Life & Casualty ICC, Ltd. v. FFD Resources III, LLC, was initiated by Bancroft in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in April 2011 to collect on a defaulted promissory note with a principal amount of $248,234. Following the filing of Bancroft’s complaint, the case was transferred to the Southern District of Texas. FFD Resources III, LLC, and FFD Ventures, L.P. then filed several counterclaims which Bancroft moved to dismiss in November 2011 based on forum selection clauses that required the counterclaims to be brought only in the courts of Saint Lucia under Saint Lucia law.

In its 20-page opinion and order dismissing the counterclaims, the court noted that FFD Ventures, L.P. “received constructive notice of the terms of the Group Policy that governed their agreement with Bancroft” and that they “relied on the policy to make five previous claims over their course of dealings with Bancroft, all of which ‘Bancroft paid according to the terms of the policy.’” The Court noted that “[s]eeking benefits under the 2010 Group Policy estops Counter-Plaintiffs from claiming that they are not bound by its venue clause.”

The Court also noted that “Counter-Plaintiffs from the beginning of their relationship with Bancroft well knew that they were dealing with a Caribbean entity—shown on the 2005 insurance application with an address in the British Virgin Islands, and on Certificates of Insurance beginning in 2006 and each year afterwards with an address in Saint Lucia, West Indies—to purchase an insurance product that was not available in the United States and that Bancroft could not sell or offer to sell in the United States. The insureds knew well that if Bancroft accepted Counter-Plaintiffs’ application for its offshore insurance product, that Counter-Plaintiffs would be required to seek redress for insurance claim disputes in a foreign jurisdiction, initially the British Virgin Islands.”

Finally, the Court noted that “Counter-Plaintiff’s argument that enforcing the forum selection clause would be contrary to Texas public policy, as expressed in the Texas Insurance Code, lacks merit. Counter-Plaintiffs expressly agreed to litigate insurance matters in a non-Texas forum and that the insurance that they were buying could not be obtained in the United States; hence Counter-Plaintiffs’ refuge in the Texas Insurance code is ineffectual.”

“We are extremely satisfied with the Court’s opinion and order,” said attorney Kip Schwartz of the law firm Schwartz & Associates PLLC, which represents Bancroft. “As this opinion demonstrates, the courts will hold defaulted debtors to the terms to which they previously agreed and not permit baseless counterclaims to needlessly sidetrack what are, in actuality, straightforward collection cases. Bancroft looks forward to continuing to prosecute this case for the benefit of all certificate holders in its Premium Lite group pool.”

A copy of the Court’s opinion and order can be found here.

About Schwartz & Associates PLLC

Schwartz & Associates PLLC is based in the District of Columbia and opened its doors on March 26, 2012. It is a national trial and litigation boutique law firm specializing in complex commercial litigation matters including financial services, employment, intellectual property, and fiduciary liability. For more information, please visit www.schwartzassociates-law.com.

About Bancroft Life & Casualty ICC, Ltd.

Bancroft Life and Casualty ICC, Ltd. (“Bancroft”) is a licensed insurance company specializing in customized business interruption and risk insurance. Based in Saint Lucia, Bancroft's insurance program enables customers to prepare for risks and continue operations without loss of revenue. Bancroft has the flexibility to create coverages to address the needs of each individual client, no matter large or small. It is regulated by the Ministry of Finance in St. Lucia, its financial statements are independently audited each year by BDO Seidman, and, since its inception, Bancroft has voluntarily elected to file U.S. tax returns. For additional information on Bancroft, please visit www.bancroftltd.net.

Bancroft Life & Casualty ICC, Ltd.
Kip Schwartz, 202-342-0413

Source: Bancroft Life & Casualty ICC, Ltd.