Federal Court Finds That UIM Bad Faith Claim Was Plausibly Pled

In the case of Perhosky v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., No. 2:23-CV-00025 (W.D. Pa. May 4, 2023 Lenihan, J.), the court denied a Defendant’s carrier’s Motion to Dismiss a Plaintiff’s bad faith claim over the carrier’s alleged failure to pay UIM benefits after the Plaintiff was injured in a motor vehicle accident.

The court found that, based upon the pleadings in the Complaint, the Plaintiff had pled a plausible bad faith claim.

The court noted that the Plaintiff averred that the Defendant carrier failed to provide any explanation for its offer to settle the Plaintiff’s claim for $25,000.00. The Plaintiff also asserted that the carrier did not conduct any investigation and did not refer the Plaintiff to an independent medical examination.

In so ruling, the court rejected the Defendant carrier’s arguments that the Plaintiff did not take into account that the Defendant had factored into its evaluation and liability credit of $100,000.00 from the Plaintiff’s prior settlement with other insurance carriers. 

The court also rejected the Defendant’s argument that the bad faith claim was simply based upon the Plaintiff’s disagreement with the carrier’s evaluation and that the carrier had not yet completed its investigation.

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


Source: “Digest of Recent Opinions.” Pennsylvania Law Weekly (June 8, 2023).