Continental Illinois countersued three insurers.

The Chicago-based bank holding company said it filed counterclaims against the three firms that provided its directors and officers with liability insurance. The suit charged that the companies breached their duty to pay claims against former Continental officials arising from the bank’s near collapse last year. The suit, filed in federal court in Chicago, seeks unspecified damages from National Union Fire Insurance of Pittsburgh, Harbor Insurance of Los Angeles and Allstate Insurance. In August, the three insurers sought to cancel some of Continental’s insurance, claiming that the bank concealed its financial problems to secure increased coverage.