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Mealey's Insurance Bad Faith

  • December 03, 2024

    No Coverage Owed For Bacteria, Mold In Insureds’ Home, Federal Judge Says

    LAKE CHARLES, La. — A homeowners insurer did not breach its contract or act in bad faith in refusing to provide coverage for bacteria, mold and contamination allegedly caused by hurricane damage because the policy clearly excludes coverage for contaminants and pollutants, a Louisiana federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.

  • December 02, 2024

    Insured Says Property Insurer Acted In Bad Faith In Handling Water Damage Claim

    SEATTLE — An insured condominium owners association filed suit in Washington federal court, alleging that its property insurer acted in bad faith by failing to investigate and make a coverage decision regarding the association’s claim for hidden water damage discovered in condominium buildings maintained by the association.

  • December 02, 2024

    Breach Of Contract, Bad Faith Claims To Proceed Against Property Insurer

    BILLINGS, Mont. — A Montana federal judge denied an insurer’s motion to dismiss breach of contract and bad faith claims alleged against the insurer after determining that it is not clear if the insurer was a party to a property insurance policy issued to the insured.

  • December 02, 2024

    Status Conference Scheduled In Hurricane Coverage Dispute With Insolvent Insurer

    LAFAYETTE, La. — A Louisiana federal magistrate judge issued an order scheduling a follow-up status conference in a homeowner’s suit against his now-insolvent insurer for its purported failure to cover damages caused by Hurricanes Laura and Delta.

  • December 02, 2024

    Bad Faith Claim To Proceed Against Insurer In Connecticut State Court

    WATERBURY, Conn. — A Connecticut state judge denied an auto insurer’s motion to strike an insured’s bad faith claim and request for punitive damages and attorney fees after determining that the insured’s complaint alleges sufficient factual allegations in support of the bad faith claim.

  • December 02, 2024

    Construction Company Alleges Bad Faith Cross-Claim Against CGL Insurer

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. —A construction company insured answered a commercial general liability insurer’s first amended complaint and filed cross-claims for breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and seeks equitable contribution as assignee of an excess insurer that funded its $2,250,000 settlement of an underlying construction defects lawsuit.

  • November 27, 2024

    Insureds Seek Vacatur Of Order Compelling Arbitration Of $7M Hurricane Claim

    NEW ORLEANS — Citing new Louisiana Supreme Court precedent on the arbitrability of insurance claims, two New Orleans property owners filed a motion in Louisiana federal court to vacate an order compelling arbitration of their claims for $7 million in damages caused by Hurricane Ida and for bad faith against a group of foreign and domestic insurers, which was previously upheld by the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • November 26, 2024

    Assignee Entitled To Move For Discovery On Insured’s Cooperation With Auto Insurer

    LAS VEGAS — A Nevada federal judge determined that an insured’s assignee is entitled to move for additional discovery to determine if the insured cooperated with her auto insurer in its investigation of an auto accident because the information would be helpful in the claimant’s attempt to oppose the auto insurer’s motion for summary judgment.

  • November 26, 2024

    Breach Of Contract, Bad Faith Claims Stemming From Hurricane Damage Will Proceed

    BATON ROUGE, La. — A Louisiana federal judge determined that insureds’ breach of contract and bad faith claims against their property insurer  arising out of the insureds’ claim for hurricane damages can proceed because the claims in the insureds’ amended complaint are not unripe.

  • November 26, 2024

    Auto Insurer Did Not Breach Contract, Act In Bad Faith In Handling Vandalism Claim

    WILMINGTON, Del. — An insured’s breach of contract and bad faith claims against an auto insurer cannot proceed because the insured failed to provide evidence that the insurer breached its contract or acted unreasonably in handling his claim for vandalism damages to his auto.

  • November 26, 2024

    Judge Grants Motion To Strike Misrepresentation Defense In Hailstorm Coverage Row

    DENVER  — A Colorado federal judge on Nov. 25 granted a homeowner’s motion to strike her insurer’s affirmative defense related to voiding her policy for purported misrepresentation in the homeowner’s bad faith suit against the insurer for alleged failure to cover hail damage, finding that the defense fails to meet the pleading requirements for particularity under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

  • November 22, 2024

    COMMENTARY: 2024 Key Insurance Decisions, Trends & Developments & A Look Ahead To 2025

    By Scott M. Seaman, Pedro E. Hernandez and Lisa M. Roccanova

  • November 22, 2024

    Insured Failed To Comply With Policy’s Notice, Warranty Provisions, Judge Says

    SAN DIEGO — No coverage is owed to a hospital company insured under a pollution liability policy for remediation of mold discovered in the insured’s heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems because the insured failed to comply with the policy’s warranty and notice provisions, both of which are conditions precedent to coverage, a California federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment and denying the insured’s motion for summary judgment.

  • November 21, 2024

    Radioactive Materials Exclusion Clearly Bars Coverage, Insurers Maintain

    CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should affirm a district court’s finding that no coverage is owed by insurers pursuant to the policies’ radioactive materials exclusion for an underlying suit seeking damages for bodily injuries caused by exposure to electromagnetic (EMF) radiation from the insured’s electric transformers because the radioactive materials exclusion clearly bars coverage, the insurers say in their Nov. 20 appellee brief.

  • November 18, 2024

    Insured’s Snow-Damage Suit Remanded To State Court Based On Lack Of Diversity

    RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A California federal judge remanded an insured’s suit to California state court after determining that complete diversity of citizenship does not exist based on the insured’s naming of an insurance agency as a defendant in a second amended complaint, which alleges breach of contract, bad faith and negligence claims based on the property insurer’s denial of coverage for the partial collapse of an insured building’s roof.

  • November 18, 2024

    Judge Dismisses 1 Insurer From Bad Faith Suit Arising From Construction Defects

    DENVER — Following the parties’ joint stipulation of dismissal, a federal judge in Colorado dismissed with prejudice one insurer from a plaintiff insurers breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking recovery of the defense and settlement costs that it paid on behalf of its general contractor insured in an underlying construction defects lawsuit.

  • November 18, 2024

    Third-Party Claimant’s Statutory Bad Faith Claim To Proceed, Judge Says

    ORLANDO, Fla. — A third-party claimant’s statutory bad faith claim against an auto insurer can proceed because the claimant properly filed a civil remedy notice (CRN) as required under Florida law and the auto insurer failed to cure the CRN when it refused to pay the excess judgment entered against its insured, a Florida federal judge said in denying the auto insurer’s motion to dismiss the claim.

  • November 18, 2024

    Issues Of Fact Exist On Whether Auto Insurer’s Conduct Was Bad Faith

    DAYTON, Ohio — An Ohio appellate court reversed and remanded a trial court’s ruling in favor of an auto insurer on an insured’s bad faith claim after determining that issues of fact exist as to whether the insurer lacked good faith in handling the insured’s claim for uninsured motorist damages.

  • November 15, 2024

    Majority Affirms Ruling In Last Resort Insurer’s Favor In Hurricane Coverage Suit

    BATON ROUGE, La. — A majority of a First Circuit Louisiana Court of Appeal panel held that a lower court properly interpreted the state Legislature's amendment of Louisiana Revised Statutes Section 22:1892(H) by Act 290 to be a procedural change that applied retroactively and, as a result, eliminated any class action for damages, including bad faith penalties, brought against the state’s insurer of last resort.

  • November 15, 2024

    Insurer Acted In Bad Faith By Reserving Right To Deny Coverage, Insured Alleges

    RALEIGH, N.C. — An insured filed suit in North Carolina federal court, claiming that its insurer acted in bad faith by issuing a reservation of rights letter after defending the insured in an underlying suit for more than a year.

  • November 14, 2024

    Calif. Panel: Defense Costs Not Restitutionary Damages In D&O Coverage Dispute

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California appeals panel reversed a lower court’s ruling in favor of an excess directors and officers liability insurer in a breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit brought by an insured and its former chief financial officer, rejecting the insurer’s argument that the insured’s claim for underlying defense costs is the substantial equivalent of “restitutionary damages.”

  • November 14, 2024

    Homeowners Insurer’s Request For 2nd Examination Under Oath Not Unreasonable

    LOS ANGELES — A trial court did not err in granting summary judgment to a homeowners insurer on breach of contract and bad faith claims because the insurer did not act unreasonably in requesting a second examination under oath from the insured and the insured breached the duty to cooperate with the insurer as required under the policy, a California appellate court said.

  • November 13, 2024

    Judge Partially Denies Freddie Mac’s Summary Judgment Motion In D&O Coverage Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in Washington, D.C., granted in part and denied in part a motion for partial summary judgment brought by Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac) in its breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking directors and officers liability coverage for underlying expenses it incurred on behalf of its directors, officers and employees who were subpoenaed by the Securities and Exchange Commission during an investigation and subsequent lawsuit.

  • November 11, 2024

    Appraisal Award Partly Vacated, Counterclaim Dismissed In Wildfire Coverage Suit

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A federal magistrate judge in California granted in part a homeowners insurer’s motion to vacate a more than $33 million appraisal award in a coverage dispute over damage caused by the Glass Fire in Northern California, further granting the insureds’ motion to dismiss the insurer’s counterclaim for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

  • November 11, 2024

    Judge Tosses Breach Of Contract Suit Against MetLife Over $100,000 Lapsed Policy

    FLORENCE, S.C. — A South Carolina federal judge dismissed a breach of contract suit filed against Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. (MetLife) by a decedent’s son seeking death benefits under his father’s $100,000 life insurance policy which ended when his father retired, finding that the son’s breach of contract claim fails because agency granted to him by his father pursuant to a power of attorney (POA) ended upon his father’s death and therefore precluded the son from extending post-retirement coverage on his father’s behalf.