Oakland Diocese Insurers, Abuse Victims Spar Over Claim Rules

Insurers and sex abuse claimants are clashing over rules proposed by the Catholic diocese in Oakland, Calif., to evaluate abuse allegations in its bankruptcy.

The diocese’s proposed procedures for filing sex abuse claims against church clergy should be rejected because they don’t require claimants to disclose facts to prove their allegations are valid under California law, the insurers said in court papers filed Tuesday in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California.

The insurers contended that the proposed rules will lead to a flood of invalid claims. The abuse claimants, meanwhile, argued on Tuesday that the diocese’s ...