By Ryan Hewlett

Feb 27 - (The Insurer) - WR Berkley's Lloyd's arm has agreed to settle a long-running legal dispute with Canopius Syndicate 4444 over recoveries it claimed it was owed to cover business interruption, event cancellations and related risks incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The confidential settlement between WRBC Corporate Member Limited and Canopius Corporate Capital Limited was agreed out of court. An order issued by Mr Justice Butcher and seen by The Insurer confirmed that the parties agreed the terms of the confidential settlement on January 29, 2025.

Terms of the settlement have not been disclosed.

The order, dated February 18 and recently made public, detailed that all claims brought against Canopius Corporate Capital Limited have now been stayed except for the purpose of carrying the settlement terms into effect.

The settlement relates to a lawsuit filed by WRBC Corporate Member Limited in December 2023 against a group of 13 Lloyd’s syndicates, corporate members and London market reinsurers in what was thought to be the first public dispute between a cedant and its reinsurers over pandemic-related recoveries to reach London’s Commercial Court.

It is not known whether any of the other defendant (re)insurers, which include units of Axa XL, Brit, Liberty, Chaucer and Everest, have also settled with WR Berkley's Lloyd's arm.

Canopius declined to comment while WR Berkley did not respond to a request for comment.

As previously reported, WRBC Corporate Member Limited, the Lloyd’s corporate member for Syndicate 1967’s 2019 year of account, sought $90 million in reinsurance to cover claims it paid out on underlying policies stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and related government-mandated lockdowns.

WR Berkley alleged in particulars of claim that the defendant reinsurers were contractually obligated to reinsure its losses for the 2019 year of account under two multiline excess of loss reinsurance treaties.

The classes of business reinsured under the treaties include fine art, jewellers’ block and general specie, contingency, political risks, accident, construction and engineering, and political violence. The insurer claimed that losses occurred in its contingency book across multiple jurisdictions – including California, Colorado, Illinois, Florida, Nevada, New York and England.

The full list of defendants included: Axa XL Syndicate Limited, Brit UW Limited, White Bear Corporate Capital Limited, XL Bermuda Limited, Liberty Corporate Capital Limited, Chaucer Corporate Capital China Re $(UK)$ Limited, IAT CCM Ltd and Lloyd's Consortium 9638, and Canopius Corporate Capital Limited.

Also named are HCC International, Everest Reinsurance (Bermuda), Trans Re London and Validus Reinsurance Limited.