Mealey's Insurance Bad Faith
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November 03, 2023
Questions Of Fact Exist On Reasonableness Of Auto Insurer’s Claims Handling
SEATTLE — An insured’s extracontractual claims against an auto insurer can proceed because questions of fact exist as to whether the auto insurer’s handling of the insured’s claim and settlement offer to the insured were reasonable, a Washington federal judge Nov. 2 said in denying the insurer’s motion for partial summary judgment on the extracontractual claims.
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November 03, 2023
Breach Of Contract, Bad Faith Suit Will Remain In Louisiana Federal Court
NEW ORLEANS — An insured’s breach of contract and bad faith suit arising out of a hurricane damage coverage dispute will remain in federal court because the property insurer met its burden of showing that the federal jurisdictional amount in controversy requirement has been exceeded, a Louisiana federal judge said in denying the insured’s motion to remand to state court.
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November 03, 2023
Bad Faith Claim Against Homeowners Insurer In Fire Damage Suit To Proceed
PHILADELPHIA — Insureds’ bad faith claim against their homeowners insurer can proceed because the insureds sufficiently allege facts to support their allegation that the insurer acted in bad faith in handling their claim for damages caused by a fire in their home.
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November 03, 2023
Common-Law Bad Faith, Statutory Bad Faith Claims Dismissed In Auto Suit
PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge granted an auto insurer’s motion to dismiss claims for common-law bad faith, statutory bad faith and violation of Pennsylvania’s unfair trade practices law in an auto coverage dispute because the common-law bad faith claim is barred by res judicata and because the complaint does not allege facts in support of a statutory bad faith claim or an unfair trade practices claim.
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November 03, 2023
Insured’s Suit Seeking Coverage For Hurricane Damages Cannot Survive, Judge Says
LAKE CHARLES, La. — A Louisiana federal judge dismissed an insured’s suit against her homeowners insurer after determining that the breach of contract claim cannot survive based on the policy’s 24-month suit limitations provisions and that the bad faith and negligent infliction of emotional distress claims cannot survive because the insured failed to provide any support for the claims.
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October 31, 2023
Conversion To Chapter 7 Sought For Vesttoo Bankruptcy Cases By U.S. Trustee
WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal bankruptcy judge on Oct. 30 set a Nov. 8 hearing on a motion to convert the jointly administered Chapter 11 cases of Vesttoo Ltd. and 48 affiliates to Chapter 7 cases.
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October 30, 2023
California Appeals Panel Affirms Ruling For Insurer In Water Damage Suit
LOS ANGELES — The Second District California Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insurer in a bad faith coverage dispute over water damage caused by a sewer line backup after determining that the insured forfeited its argument that coverage is provided for the water damage by not raising the issue in the trial court.
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October 26, 2023
Policy’s Business Income Coverage Language Is Ambiguous, Federal Judge Rules
LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge partly denied a commercial property insurer’s motion for summary judgment in a breach of contract lawsuit arising from a now defunct restaurant’s suspension of operations, finding that the policy’s business income coverage language is ambiguous.
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October 25, 2023
Insurer, Subcontractor Agree To Dismiss 9th Circuit Appeal Over $2.5M Award
SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ordered the dismissal of an insurer’s appeal of a lower court’s 2021 ruling granting its subcontractor insured summary judgment on breach of contract and bad faith claims and awarding it $2.5 million, granting the parties’ stipulated motion for voluntary dismissal.
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October 24, 2023
Verdict On Bad Faith, Unfair Practices Claims Supported By Substantial Evidence
PASADENA, Calif. — Substantial evidence supports a jury verdict on claims for bad faith and unfair insurance practices, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Oct. 23 in affirming a more than $5.7 million judgment entered in favor of an insured and against an auto insurer.
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October 24, 2023
Judge Dismisses Punitive Damages Claim Despite Allegedly Egregious Breach
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York partly granted an insurer’s motion to dismiss two homeowners’ claims, dismissing only a claim for punitive damages on the grounds that the homeowners failed to adequately allege that when the insurer breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing by underpaying covered plumbing damages, it was part of a pattern of harming the public.
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October 24, 2023
Additional Insured’s Bad Faith Claims Fail In Chemical Exposure Coverage Suit
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A New York federal judge determined that an additional insured’s claim for breach of the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing arising out of a coverage dispute for an underlying chemical exposure bodily injury suit must be dismissed because it is duplicative of a breach of contract claim. However, the judge said the additional insured is permitted to amend its complaint as it pertains to the breach of good faith and fair dealing claim.
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October 23, 2023
Insureds Seek Dismissal In Hurricane Coverage Row Involving Liquidated Insurer
ST. CROIX, Virgin Islands — Homeowners notified a federal court in the Virgin Islands that because one of the insurer defendants was never served, the case against it should be dismissed in the insureds’ Hurricane Maria coverage suit involving an insurer in liquidation.
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October 23, 2023
Federal Judge Dismisses Claims That Insurer Has Duty To Defend Battery Suit
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A federal judge in California dismissed without prejudice breach of contract and other claims against an insurer that denied liability for two insurance policy holders accused of battery in a lawsuit following an altercation.
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October 18, 2023
Debtors In Vesttoo Chapter 11 Case Ask Bankruptcy Court To Establish Bar Dates
WILMINGTON, Del. — Vesttoo Ltd. and 48 affiliated entities (collectively, the debtors) have asked a Delaware federal bankruptcy court to set a series of bar dates in their jointly administered Chapter 11 case, starting with a Dec. 1 deadline for nongovernmental entities or individuals to file proof of claims that arose before the debtors filed for bankruptcy.
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October 18, 2023
Former NBA Player Alleges Disability Insurer Breached Contract, Acted In Bad Faith
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A former National Basketball Association (NBA) player alleges in a complaint filed in North Carolina federal court that his disability insurer acted in bad faith and breached its contract by denying his disability benefits claim because he was rendered totally and permanently disabled by a diagnosis of myopericarditis, an inflammation of the lining of his heart, following two bouts with COVID-19.
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October 16, 2023
Parties In Breach, Bad Faith Lawsuit Spar Over Dismissal Arguments
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — In separate replies addressing the plaintiff’s contentions that it is not an insurer and that the policies at issue are not reinsurance, defendants in an Alabama federal suit over reimbursement for workers’ compensation claims reiterate their arguments for dismissing the breach of contract, bad faith, laches and equitable estoppel claims against them.
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October 13, 2023
Policy’s 2-Year Prescriptive Period Provision Not Applicable To Bad Faith Claim
LAKE CHARLES, La. — A bad faith claim alleged by insureds against their homeowners insurer can proceed because the policy’s two-year prescriptive period applies only to the insureds’ breach of contract claim, a Louisiana federal judge said after determining that the bad faith claim is subject to a 10-year prescriptive period based on precedent set forth by the Louisiana Supreme Court.
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October 13, 2023
Bad Faith Claim To Proceed Against Auto Insurer, Question Of Fact Exists
LAS VEGAS — An insured’s claims for bad faith and unfair claims practices against an auto insurer can proceed because the insured presented evidence in support of his contention that a genuine issue of fact exists as to whether the auto insurer’s handling of his claim was reasonable, a Nevada federal judge said in partially denying the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.
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October 13, 2023
Reconsideration Denied In Bid To Substitute Guaranty Association For Insurer
NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge denied a request to reconsider an order denying substituting a now-insolvent insurer with the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) in a suit seeking coverage for purported damage to a home caused by Hurricane Ida, finding that there are no obligations transferred from an insolvent insurer to LIGA permitting it to “step into the shoes of the insolvent insurer.”
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October 12, 2023
Pennsylvania Mediation Privilege Law Is Applied In Indemnification Row
TRENTON, N.J. — Ruling on a motion to compel discovery in a dispute between insurers and reinsurers over indemnification for asbestos bodily injury claims, a New Jersey federal magistrate judge denied it without prejudice as to two categories of documents but partly granted it as to a third category.
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October 12, 2023
Judge Rules For Insurer In Hotel’s Coverage Suit Over Theft, Vandalism Claims
LOS ANGELES — A California judge granted a businessowners insurer’s motion for summary judgment in a hotel owner insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from alleged theft and vandalism that occurred following its shutdown of operations in response to the coronavirus pandemic, finding that the policy’s vacancy provision bars coverage and estoppel does not apply.
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October 11, 2023
Bad Faith Claim Against Auto Insurer Cannot Proceed, Federal Judge Determines
PHILADELPHIA — A bad faith claim alleged against an auto insurer cannot proceed because the insured failed to plead sufficient facts in support of the claim, a Pennsylvania federal judge said in granting the auto insurer’s motion to dismiss the claim.
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October 11, 2023
Auto Insurer Ordered To Show Cause As To Why Suit Should Not Be Remanded
SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge ordered an auto insurer to show cause as to why an insured’s breach of contract and bad faith suit stemming from claims for underinsured motorist (UIM) benefits and personal injury protection (PIP) benefits should remain in federal court and not be remanded to state court.
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October 10, 2023
California Federal Judge Finds Contractor Cannot Bring Bad Faith Claim
LOS ANGELES — Because there has been no excess judgment in underlying arbitration proceedings stemming from a general contractor’s alleged failure to properly secure a building under construction in advance of a hurricane, the contractor cannot state a claim against a commercial general liability insurer for bad faith, a federal judge in California ruled in granting the insurer’s motion for partial summary judgment on the claim.