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ACE Litigation Watch Highlights California Court Order Citing ACE Group for Improper Delay of Payments to Pepsico and Subsequen

^{Published on 2011-02-16 06:35:38 - Market Wire}
 

NEW YORK--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--ACE Insurance Litigation Watch, the online repository for lawsuits against the ACE Ltd. insurance company (NYSE: ACE), today highlighted that the ACE subsidiary Century Indemnity Insurance Company, after being cited two months ago by the Los Angeles District Court for aegregiousa delays of payments owed to Pepsi- Cola Metropolitan Bottling Company Inc., a division of the Pepsico (NYSE: PEP), appears to have settled the litigation brought by Pepsico. The PepsiCo lawsuit charged the ACE subsidiary with, among other wrongdoings, bad faith business practices and breach of contract.

"pattern of delaying its reimbursements to Pepsi"

In December 2010, the judge in the case, Hon. Stephen Wilson, issued a partial summary judgment order finding, among other things, that Century Indemnity breached its duty to defend Pepsi in a series of lawsuits stemming from Pepsia™s ownership of a bottling plant in Northern California. In the order, Judge Wilson stated that the ACE Group company engaged in a apattern of delaying its reimbursements to Pepsi,a including, in some cases, waiting almost two years to tender payment on valid claims.

Pepsi originally filed its lawsuit against the Insurance Company of North America, who was succeeded by Century Indemnity following its acquisition by ACE, in Los Angeles district court in April, 2010. Judge Wilson issued the partial summary judgment order on December 28, 2010. Subsequently, on February 9, 2011, INA-Century Indemnity and Pepsi delivered notice to the court of the settlement.

The Insurance Company of North America and Century Indemnity are overseen by ACE Group executive Brian E. Dowd. ACE Ltd. (NYSE:ACE), which was recently added to the S&P 500 index, is the parent of companies in the ACE Insurance Group.

ACE Insurance Litigation Watch is currently tracking more than 185 cases in Federal courts alone. The ACE Litigation Index includes recent complaints by companies such as MI-Swaco, Ticketmaster LLC, and the Masco Corporation that are similar to the charges contained in the Pepsico lawsuit.

Visit [ www.ACEinsurancewatch.com ] for more information, including files related to the Pepsi case. ACE Insurance Litigation Watch is not affiliated with the ACE Insurance Group in any way.