What began as a routine insurance misstep has snowballed into a legal battle over timing, reinsurance, and blame. This week, insurance agency RLS Limited, doing business as Breckenridge Insurance Co., and its executive Jessica Godley, urged a Michigan federal judge to toss Producers Agriculture Insurance Co.’s (ProAg) $1 million lawsuit, arguing the claims are expired and legally redundant.
The lawsuit stems from a dispute over a Federal Crop Insurance Corp. (FCIC) reinsurance denial tied to a Michigan dairy farm. But the defendants say ProAg is “taking another bite at the apple” after being ordered to pay out over $1 million to Mibelloon Dairy LLC in a prior arbitration.
From Clerical Error to Courtroom Clash
At the heart of the dispute is a simple oversight with costly consequences. ProAg alleges that Godley, a Breckenridge VP of agricultural services, failed to enter signature dates on quarterly endorsements for dairy revenue protection (DRP) insurance—effectively rendering those forms invalid and triggering FCIC’s refusal to reinsure the policies.
Mibelloon sued ProAg, Breckenridge, and Godley back in 2021, claiming it lost several months of coverage in 2020 due to the missing paperwork. The matter went to arbitration, and ProAg was ultimately held liable for over $1 million in unpaid coverage.
In April, ProAg returned to court, this time suing Breckenridge and Godley directly, accusing them of negligence, breach of contract, and causing its reinsurance loss.
