ha no interest in such premiums and shall make no deduction therefrom before paying same to, except for the commissions, if any, authorized by in advance to be deducted by and shall not, under any circumstances, make personal use of such funds, either in payment expenses or otherwise. The Producer Agreement between the parties states as follows: All premiums collected by are property and are held by as trust funds. IAC contends in response that it has a right of set-off against those funds for any recovery it may receive on its counterclaims against Zurich for breach of contract, negligence, and tortious interference with business relationships. Zurich argues that IAC holds the premium payments it collected on Zurich's behalf in trust and that it is entitled to immediate disbursement of those funds. The court must draw all inferences in a light most favorable to the non-moving party, but may grant summary judgment when "the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the non-moving party." Agristor Financial Corp. A dispute is genuine if a reasonable jury could return judgment for the non-moving party. Material facts are facts which are defined by substantive law and are necessary to apply the law. Summary judgment is appropriate if there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. IAC also asserts that regardless of the amount it may owe to Zurich, the premiums it collected on Zurich's behalf were not segregated in a separate account and are no longer in IAC's possession. ¶¶ 5-6.) Thus, IAC essentially admits that it owes Zurich at least $2,033,190.85 in unremitted premiums. ¶ 9.) IAC asserts, however, that is has collected $4,697,923.00 in gross premiums, or $4,011,706.00 in net premiums after commissions. IAC agrees that it has made $1,978,515.15 in premium payments to Zurich. ¶ 6.) Zurich concludes that IAC *967 owes it at least $2,416,255.68 in unremitted premiums. Zurich asserts that it was owed at least $4,394,770.83 in adjusted net premiums and that it has received only $1,978,515.15 of the premium payments from IAC. 2.) IAC was to remit the collected premium funds after deducting its authorized commissions. 1.) Pursuant to the Producer Agreement, IAC was required to collect insurance premiums from the AMBA policyholders on Zurich's behalf and hold the premiums in trust. Zurich paid and adjusted approximately $1.5 million for claims submitted on the various policies in the AMBA insurance program. Under the agreement, Zurich wrote insurance coverage for members of the American Mold Builders Association ("AMBA"), which obtained workers' compensation, commercial property, liability, automobile, and umbrella insurance coverage from October 1, 2000, through September 30, 2001. Zurich and IAC entered into a "Producer Agreement" pursuant to which IAC would submit insurance business to Zurich for underwriting. Now before the court is Zurich's motion for immediate disbursement of the insurance premiums and for partial summary judgment. IAC filed counterclaims alleging breach of contract, negligence in handling the issuance of insurance policies, and tortious interference with business relationships.
Zurich brought this action against IAC to recover unremitted insurance premiums collected by IAC on Zurich's behalf. ("IAC"), is a licensed insurance agent through which Zurich wrote insurance coverage for numerous policyholders. Plaintiffs, Northern Insurance Company of New York, Zurich American Insurance Company, and American Insurance Company (collectively, "Zurich"), are related insurance companies writing insurance coverage in Michigan and other states.ĭefendant, InsurAmeriCorp, Inc. Dickinson, Grand Rapids, MI, for Defendant. NORTHERN INSURANCE COMPANY OF NEW YORK, Zurich American Insurance Company, and American Insurance Company, Plaintiffs,
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