Insurer Can Recoup Overpayment of Disability Benefits Without Relief from Automatic Stay

Successfully represented insurance company in dispute concerning insurer’s ability to recoup, without obtaining relief from the automatic stay, a pre-petition overpayment of disability insurance benefits from post-petition disability benefit payments owed to an individual Chapter 13 debtor.  The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas rendered a decision concluding that insurer could exercise equitable right of recoupment to recover such overpayment from post-petition benefit payments without obtaining relief from automatic stay and rejecting debtor’s claim for sanctions.