Insolvency fund tells SJC it is "deemed insurer" and entitled to COLA reimbursements from trust fund

At an oral argument before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the Massachusetts Insurers Insolvency Fund asked the court to rule that it is “deemed the insurer” under Chapter 175D and therefore entitled to reimbursement from the Workers’ Compensation Trust Fund for cost-of-living-adjustment payments required by G.L. c.152, §34B.

Kurt Mullin, counsel for the Massachusetts Insurers Insolvency Fund (MIF), told the court: “The legislature created the insolvency fund to pay covered claims when an insurer, covered by Chapter 175 D, its enabling act, is declared to be insolvent.” Mullin said Section 5 of Chapter 175D makes the insolvency fund “deemed the insurer with respect to its obligations on the covered claims, and to that extent has all the insolvent insurer’s rights, duties, and obligations.”

Mullin framed the dispute as two narrow questions on stipulated facts: whether the insolvency fund’s status as the insurer for purposes of paying COLA also…