A surety insurer is going to court to keep a cash advance firm from collecting on a contractor's receivables - money the insurer says is already spoken for.
In a filing lodged on April 22, 2026 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, QBE Insurance Corporation says its claim to a troubled New York contractor's receivables should come ahead of a state-court judgment recently won by Westwood Funding Solutions LLC, which does business as Westwood Funding. The case, QBE Insurance Corporation v. Westwood Funding Solutions LLC, puts a federal judge in the middle of a type of dispute that has become familiar to surety carriers: a bond insurer and a merchant cash advance funder both reaching for the same contractor's cash flow.
The contractor at the center of the dispute is UTB-United Technology, Inc., based in Peekskill, New York. QBE says it issued performance and payment bonds for UTB on a range of New York construction projects, and that before doing so, UTB and its principal, Mohan Sharma, signed a General Agreement of Indemnity on or about February 25, 2016.
That agreement, according to QBE, does a lot of heavy lifting. It gives the insurer a security interest in "any Contract or contract rights or rights to the payment of money," and, if the contractor defaults, assigns over to QBE "any and all sums due under the Contract at the time of the Event of Default or which thereafter becomes due." It also includes a trust fund clause providing that "All payments due or received for or on account of any Contract… will be held in trust as trust funds by Principal and Indemnitors for the benefit and payment of all obligations for which Surety may be liable under any Bond," with the parties agreeing to follow New York State Lien Law Article 3-A.
QBE says several defaults have occurred. It filed a UCC-1 financing statement on or about March 28, 2024, and, according to the filing, has incurred losses, attorneys' fees and costs exceeding $16,614,860.41 from defending or paying claims on UTB-related bonds. The filing lists eight separate bond-related lawsuits tied to UTB already working their way through New York state and federal courts.
Westwood's path to the dispute looks very different. It had bought a slice of UTB's future receivables - 6.22 percent, with a stated value of $172,500 - under a July 10, 2025 agreement, paying $125,000 (minus agreed fees) on or about July 16, 2025. When the payments stopped, Westwood sued in Erie County Supreme Court, and on April 21, 2026, the court entered judgment of $166,635.48.
QBE now wants a federal judge to declare its rights superior and to block enforcement of that judgment.
For insurance professionals, the dispute is a reminder of how the surety toolkit - indemnity agreements, UCC filings and Article 3-A trust fund protections - is meant to work when a cash advance funder arrives at the end of the line.
The allegations have not been tested in court. Westwood has not yet filed a response, and no judge has ruled on QBE's claims.
