QBE Insurance Group Limited
(ASX:QBE) has reached a settlement to pay New York regulators $9.7 million in civil penalties and revised practices for insuring troubled mortgage loans.
The Department of Financial Services said the agreement also called for compensation to homeowners wrongly charged for, or driven into default by force-placed insurance.
Lawyer for QBE, Andrew Sandler, says the insurer denies that its practices were illegal and resolved the case solely to put it behind it and avoid additional cost and the continued diversion of management time and attention to the matter.
In 2011, QBE acquired the force-placed insurance business Balboa Insurance Co, a subsidiary of Bank of America.
QBE reported a net profit of $751.15 million in its 2012 financial year.
