High Court Affirms $100,000 Fine, Equates Policy Assignment With Cancellation

The Montana Supreme Court upheld a $100,000 penalty against Victory Insurance Co. for illegally canceling policies before assigning them to another carrier. Victory said it called each of the companies it insured to tell them about the sale, but the high court said the only record of any notification was a Dec. 31, 2019, email to businesses saying that their Victory policy "has been upgraded" to a Clear Spring Property and Casualty Co. policy, effective Jan. 1, 2020. Victory argued that assigning policies was different from canceling them, but the court disagreed. "The Victor...