According to The Associated Press (AP), National Warranty Insurance Co. of Lincoln, NE, has been granted the equivalent of bankruptcy protection in the Cayman Islands.

AP reported that the company, under fire for delaying or failing to pay auto dealers nationwide for repair work, was granted "provisional liquidation" status in the Cayman Islands, the company's "officials domicile" and place of incorporation.

"The effect of the order restrains indefinitely any legal action against NWIC," the company said in a release, according to the AP, which added that the order allows the company to continue to do business.

According to The Associated Press, National Warranty Insurance Co. underwrote the motor vehicle warranty service contracts that were sold by independent agents from across the country. The value of claims in the dispute may reach $60 million, according to A.M. Best, the national insurance ratings agency.

Some automobile dealers, a few in Nebraska but mostly in other states, have been getting paid late or not at all for work on vehicles under the service contracts, according to attorneys, regulators and Loy Todd, president of the Nebraska New Car and Truck Dealers, the AP reported.

"There are certainly people who expected to get paid, who haven't been paid yet, in Nebraska," Todd told the Lincoln Journal Star, said the AP.

Some car dealers in Texas and some insurance commissioners from other states complained to the Nebraska Insurance Department about unpaid vehicle service warranty claims, AP added.

Calls made by The Associated Press Friday to Yamagata Enterprises in Las Vegas seeking comment from Yamagata Warranty were referred to an answering service and were not immediately returned.