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LIBERTY MUT. v. SUPERINTENDENT OF INS.2/5/1997
[ 1] Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company and Liberty Insurance Corporation (Liberty Mutual) appeal from the judgment entered in the Superior Court (Kennebec County, Atwood, J.) affirming the decision of the Bureau of Insurance ordering Liberty Mutual to pay an assessment made pursuant to the Maine Insurance Guaranty Association Act ("the Act"), 24-A M.R.S.A. § 4431-4452, as amended by P.L. 1989, ch. 67. Liberty Mutual contends that the Bureau of Insurance applied the 1989 amendments to the Act retroactively and that the application of the 1989 amendments to Liberty Mutual is unconstitutional. We conclude that the 1989 amendments were not applied retroactively to Liberty Mutual and affirm the judgment.
[ 2] The purpose of the Maine Insurance Guaranty Association Act, inter alia, is to provide a mechanism for the payment of covered claims pursuant to certain insurance policies, to avoid financial loss to claimants or policyholders because of the insolvency of an insurer, and to provide an association to assess the cost of such protection among insurers. 24-A M.R.S.A. § 4432 (1990). The Act also created the Maine Insurance Guaranty Association (MIGA) to effectuate the purposes of the Act. Id. at §§ 4436, 4438.
[ 3] Liberty Mutual wrote
[ 4] In 1989 the Act was amended to, inter alia, specify the extent to which a withdrawn insurer remains a "member insurer." 24-A M.R.S.A. § 4435(6). The 1989 amendments also modified the methodology used in making the assessments of each member insurer. 24-A M.R.S.A. § 4440(1).
[ 5] From 1989 through 1993 MIGA continued to assess Liberty Mutual for claims arising from insurers that became insolvent prior to Liberty Mutual's withdrawal in 1987. Each assessment was based on the insurer's net direct written premiums for the year preceding the assessment year (1988 through 1992). Liberty Mutual paid these assessments.
[ 6] In September 1994 MIGA made an additional assessment for 1991 after discovering that two Liberty Mutual companies had no premiums in 1990 and consequently were not assessed in 1991. The additional assessment was calculated, pursuant to the 1989 amendments to § 4440(1) of the Act, by averaging the companies' premiums during the five years preceding Liberty Mutual's withdrawal from the workers' compensation insurance
[ 7] Liberty Mutual initially refused to pay the additional assessment for 1991. Subsequently, MIGA filed a petition with the Bureau of Insurance to suspend or revoke Liberty Mutual's license to transact property or casualty insurance in Maine and to award eight percent interest on the unpaid assessment. After a hearing on MIGA's petition, the Bureau found that the 1989 amendments are prospective legislation and that Liberty Mutual's constitutional rights were not violated when the 1989 amendments were applied to it. Accordingly, the Bureau ordered Liberty Mutual to pay to MIGA the assessed amount of $89,064 plus interest. Liberty Mutual appealed to the Superior Court pursuant to M.R.Civ.P. 80C. The Superior Court affirmed the Bureau's decision in all respects and Liberty Mutual appealed.
[ 8] "On an appeal from the Superior Court's review of an administrative decision, we review the agency's decision directly for an abuse of discretion, errors of law, or findings unsupported by the evidence. The construction of a statutory scheme is a question of law for the court." American Republic Ins. Co. v. Superintendent of Ins., 647 A.2d 1195, 1197 (Me. 1994), cert. denied ___ U.S. ___, 115 S.Ct. 1399, 131 L.Ed.2d 287 (1995) (citation omitted).
[ 9] Liberty Mutual argues that application of the Act's 1989 amendments to it would r
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