In the case of Fuentes v. USAA General Ind. Co., No.
19-CV-1111 (M.D. Pa. July 22, 2019 Caputo, J.), the court ruled that a
Plaintiff had pled a plausible bad faith claim arising out of an uninsured
motorist claim following a fatal auto accident.
According to the Opinion, the facts of the case allegedly
gave rise to a coverage issue on whether the deceased party’s father, who was
the owner of the car at issue, had an applicable policy covering the accident
given that there was a question of whether the decedent resided with his father at the time
of the accident.
The other driver involved in the accident was uninsured.
The other driver involved in the accident was uninsured.
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Judge A. Richard Caputo M.D. Pa. |
Before the court in this decision was the carrier’s Motion
to Dismiss the bad faith claims on the grounds that the allegations in that
regard only amounted to boilerplate conclusory allegations.
Judge Caputo disagreed and found that the Plaintiff alleged
sufficient factual matter to overcome the F.R.C.P. 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss.
In so ruling, Judge Caputo referenced the fact that the
carrier allegedly told the father to sue the carrier in order that the carrier
may gather additional information.
Judge Caputo stated in his Opinion that, “[a]lthough such conduct may
ultimately not amount to bad faith, it is plausible, based on the factual
assertions in the Complaint that [the carrier] acted in reckless disregard of
its obligations under the policy.”
Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click
this LINK.
I send thanks to Attorney Lee Applebaum of the Philadelphia
law firm of Fineman, Krekstein & Harris for bringing this case to my
attention. Please remember to check out
Attorney Applebaum’s excellent and Pennsylvania and New Jersey Insurance Bad
Faith Case Law blog.
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