In
the case of Shaw v. USAA Cas. Ins. Co.,
No. 3:17-947 (M.D. Pa. May 11, 2018 Mannion, J.), the court granted the
carrier’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment with respect to the Plaintiff’s
bad faith count in a UIM case. Overall,
the court ruled that a reasonable jury could not conclude that the Defendant
carrier acted in bad faith under the case presented.
By
way of background, the Plaintiff was injured as a pedestrian in a motor vehicle
accident. The Plaintiff settled her
bodily injury claim against the third party tortfeasor for $50,000.00 out of
the available $100,000.00 liability limits. Thereafter, she submitted a claim
for UIM benefits with her own carrier.
During
its investigation, the Defendant carrier determined that the overall value of
the Plaintiff’s liability claim against the tortfeasor did not exceed the
$100,000.00 liability limits available to the tortfeasor.
In
the bad faith claim, the Plaintiff asserted that the Defendant did not fully
investigate or revise its initial assessment despite the Plaintiff submitting
additional medical records and expert reports.
After
a review of the record before it, Judge Mannion found that the Plaintiff had
not produced sufficient evidence to support the claims that the Defendant
carrier had acted outrageously and in bad faith in its handling, investigation,
and adjustment of the Plaintiff’s UIM claim.
In
his decision, Judge Mannion provides a thorough recitation of the post-Rancoski
bad faith law in support of his decision.
Anyone
wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.
I
send thanks to Attorney Brigid Q. Alford of the Camp Hill, Pennsylvania office
of Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin for bringing this case to my
attention.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.