Bad Faith Claim in UIM Case Dismissed Due To Conclusory Allegations

In the case of Houston v. Geico, No. 1:22-CV-00035-SPB (W.D. Pa. Jan. 27, 2023 Baxter, J.), the court granted a Defendant insurance company’s Motion to Dismiss a Plaintiff’s bad faith claim in a UIM case after finding that the Plaintiff had merely recited conclusory allegations that were insufficient to state a cognizable claim for bad faith.

According to the Opinion, the court had previously dismissed the same count and provided the Plaintiff with a right to file an Amended Complaint.

With this ruling again dismissing the Plaintiff’s bad faith count, no additional right to amend was granted.

According to the Opinion, in an effort to correct the issues with his bad faith claim, the Plaintiff added an allegation that the Defendant carrier had failed to effectively communicate with the Plaintiff during the course of the claim.

The court ruled that the cases that survive a Motion to Dismiss based upon a failure to communicate allegations of repeated attempt to elicit a response from the carrier, which was not found in the Complaint at issue in this case.

As such, the court dismissed the bad faith claim.

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.

I send thanks to Attorney Joseph Hudock from the law firm of Summers, McDonnell, Hudock, Guthrie and Rauch for bringing this case to my attention.