On July 1, 2024, new Virginia Code § 8.01-66.1 became effective and created a new bad faith cause of action that can be significant for underinsured or uninsured (“UIM”) carriers....more
One of the most powerful weapons an insurance company can use to defeat a bad faith claim is the “genuine dispute” doctrine. Under this doctrine, as long as there was a genuine dispute regarding coverage or the amount owed,...more
A plaintiff cannot recover attorney’s fees in a Florida lawsuit for Uninsured Motorist (“UM”) benefits unless there is a dispute about whether the insurance policy provides coverage. However, attorney’s fees from the...more
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Brett McIsaac v. Foremost Insurance Company Grand Rapids, Michigan, A160389 (Sonoma County Super. Ct. No. SCV-265433) (Filed 4/30/21; certified for publication 5/19/21) - McIsaac had an auto insurance policy with Foremost...more
The Minnesota Supreme Court in the matter of Alison Joel Peterson v. Western National Mutual Insurance Company, 946 N.W.2d 903 (Minn. 2020) opined for the first time on the state’s bad faith statute (Minn. Stat. § 604.18) and...more
Your friend invites you out to dinner. She offers to pick you up since your house is on the way. As you head toward the restaurant, your friend’s car is sideswiped by a driver who blew through a red light. You are seriously...more
In Mazik v. GEICO General Ins. Co. (No. B281372, filed 5/17/19), a California appeals court upheld a judgment and award of punitive damages for bad faith delay of an underinsured motorist claim, on the ground that a claim...more
In a surprising decision on rehearing, on February 4, 2019, a panel of the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal reversed itself and held that bad faith claims arising out an insurance contract are subject to a ten-year...more
In Case v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co., Inc. (No. B281732, filed 11/21/18, ord. pub. 12/18/18), a California appeals court held that the allowable reduction from uninsured motorist (UM) benefits for “payable”...more
In Keodalah v. Allstate Insurance Company, the Washington Supreme Court is set to determine whether individual insurance adjusters (as distinguished from the insurers for which they work) may be sued for bad faith and...more
After Melissa Parisi sustained injuries in a vehicle collision and learned that the other motorist involved in the crash carried only $15,000 in auto insurance, she submitted an underinsured motorist (UIM) claim to State...more
Poorly Drafted Bad Faith Claim Survives 12(b)(6) Motion in District of Maryland - In Barry v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., 2018 WL 724068 (D. Md. 2018), husband and wife Plaintiffs sued their uninsured motorist (“UIM”)...more
In Florida, an insured cannot bring a first-party bad faith claim based on a claim for UM coverage unless the insured first files a Civil Remedy Notice (CRN) with the Florida Department of Financial Services. In Mathurin v....more
Plaintiff Mary Coppinger was injured in 2010 when her vehicle was rear-ended by Daniel Klein. Both Ms. Coppinger and Mr. Klein were insured through Defendant Allstate. Mr. Klein had a $50,000 policy limit; Ms. Coppinger had...more
Although the Arizona Court of Appeals resolved this issue 20 years ago, I frequently see insureds' counsel argue that an insurer must pay the "undisputed amount" of a UM or UIM claim—and I just saw this argument last week—so...more
Plaintiff Bernie Clemens was injured in a motor vehicle accident in August 2009. Clemens’ attorney helped him recover $25,000 in a supplementary underinsured motorist (SUM) claim, and then sued Clemens’ insurer under...more
MacKinney was involved in a motor vehicle accident and sought underinsured motorist coverage from Allstate. Allstate insured MacKinney’s vehicle under three policies. The total UIM coverage under the policies was $150,000,...more
For years, when a bad faith action was brought pursuant to a jury verdict in excess of policy limits in the underlying UM claim, everyone assumed the jury verdict was binding in the bad faith action. Then, Bottini v. GEICO...more
In Zubillaga v. Allstate Indemnity Company (No. G052603, filed 6/19/17), a California appeals court ruled that triable issues about the insurer’s reliance on expert medical opinions precluded summary judgment on the genuine...more
Recently, the United States District Court held a plaintiff can maintain a claim for bad faith handling of Uninsured Motorists Coverage (“UM”) in the District of South Carolina. In Tucker v. Peerless Insurance Company, the...more
In Cadle v. GEICO Ins. Co., Case No. 15-11283 (11th Cir. Sept. 30, 2016), the Eleventh Circuit held that GEICO had not acted in bad faith when it failed to settle a claim after the insured did not provide any evidence of...more
In Sobieski v. Am. Standard Ins. Co. of Wisconsin, 2016 WL 5436588 (Ariz.App. Sept. 29, 2016), despite upholding a bad faith judgment for an insurer conducting an unreasonable investigation and denying a claim, the Arizona...more
On Friday, September 30, 2016, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed a renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law that had been granted by the Middle District Court of Florida in a uninsured/underinsured motorist...more
A low-ball settlement offer on its own is not enough to state a claim for a bad faith according to a federal district court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania which granted the insurer’s motion to dismiss the insured’s...more