The reason that the insurance companies may have not acted sooner is that prior to 1985 most of the agencies getting the large policies from the Church were run by relatives and friends of the bishops and cardinals. Everything was "in the family". One hand washes the other, and all that. Just like the lawyers who work for the church. One big brotherhood; no independent financial auditing if dioceses, etc. If anyone ever did an expose on the financial hanky-panky of the bishoips, the results would be worse than the sex scandal.
And then there was the (sex AND money) case of the late Cardinal Cody of Chicago, who shifted millions of dollars worth of church insurance policies to his "nephew"s" company. When the old sinner died in 1981, it was revealed that the "nephew" was really his son. And the beat goes on.....
I'm familiar with the legal fiefdoms enjoyed by a small number of Catholic lawyers. Cronyism may be part of the problem. There have been situations certainly where much more highly qualified persons could have replaced the "machine" functionaries making decisions. Even with regard to these "lay" committees, all too often it's the same old usual suspects.