The Hidden World Of Policy Arbitration

Reprinted with permission from the September 2008 issue of Risk Management Magazine. Copyright 2008 Risk and Insurance Management Society, Inc. All rights reserved

For the last couple of decades, arbitration has been heralded as a cheaper, more efficient and more expedient way to resolve commercial disputes. A significant segment of the property/casualty insurance market seized on this refrain by imposing mandatory arbitration clauses or other forms of alternative dispute resolution provisions in their insurance products. Off-shore insurance companies, especially in Bermuda, are particularly insistent on using arbitration rather than allowing their customers to file suit in the United States should a claim dispute arise.