Opinion ID: 202647
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Overstated Reserve Funds

Text: 109 The lack of clarity is even more apparent with respect to the Overstated Reserve Funds, which was the portion of the Reserve in excess of the amount necessary to reimburse insureds or insurers who already had paid for coverage. Certainly after enactment of the 2002 Amendment to the compulsory insurance law, which specifically required the JUA to transfer to the Secretary all funds held in the Reserve as of December 31, 2001, the law did not clearly establish that the JUA had a property right in the $10 million of Overstated Reserve Funds or, indeed, that withholding any of the designated Reserve of $73 million was an unconstitutional taking. Whether, and how much, of that $10 million is in fact excess remains a matter of debate. 110 Although the Secretary began withholding the Overstated Reserve Funds in 2000, along with the Earned and Duplicate Premiums, the alleged $10 million excess was undifferentiated from the balance of the Earned Premiums. As noted earlier, the JUA essentially claims that the $10 million should be considered Earned Premiums in which it holds a property right, and as such that money is encompassed within our prior discussion. Therefore, the law was not clearly established either before or after the 2002 Amendment that the Secretary's retention of the Overstated Reserve Funds was an unconstitutional taking.