Uninsured Bad Faith Claim Dismissed But Right To Amend Granted

In the case of Brown v. LM Gen. Ins. Co., No. 21-2134 (E.D. Pa. June 7, 2021 Pratter, J.) (Mem. Op.), the court dismissed statutory bad faith claims asserted against an insurance company after finding that the Plaintiff’s allegations were insufficient, including the failure of the Plaintiff to cite facts to support allegations of an unreasonable delay or to prove entitlement for the full policy limit.

The carrier also moved to strike the references to “recklessness,” “wanton,” and “willful,” conduct in this motor vehicle accident case in which it was alleged that the tortfeasor driver had fallen asleep at the wheel.

According to the Opinion the tortfeasor driver lacked insurance coverage. As such, the Plaintiff filed an uninsured motorist claim against her own carrier.

The carrier denied the Plaintiff's request for the payment of the full stacked limits of her uninsured motorist coverage. The Plaintiff filed suit in response, asserting that the carrier had failed to obtain the additional waivers of stacked coverage when she added new vehicles to her policy, including the vehicle involved in the accident.

As noted above, the court granted the carrier’s Motion to Dismiss finding that the Plaintiff had failed to sufficiently detail the conduct of the carrier in order to support the claims presented.

The Plaintiff was granted the right to amend.

The court also noted that the Plaintiff’s allegations of willful, wanton, recklessness conduct by the carrier in the context of her breach of contract claim were not relevant. Yet, the court held that such adjectives could be relevant to her bad faith claim if the Plaintiff shows to amend that claim.

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.  The companion Order can be reviewed HERE.


Source: “Digest of Recent Opinions.” Pennsylvania Law Weekly (June 22, 2021).

Bad Faith Claim Based Upon Delay in Full Payment Dismissed; Right to File Amended Complaint Allowed

In the case of Elansari v. The First Liberty Ins. Corp., No. 2:20-CV-5901-JDW (E.D. Pa. May 6, 2021 Wolson, J.), the court granted a Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss a Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint for bad faith but allowed the Plaintiff to file yet another Amended Complaint.

According to the Opinion, the Plaintiff alleged a breach of contract where the carrier subsequently paid a disputed amount of total liability and lost income coverage. The Plaintiff complained that the carrier failed to make full payment within a certain timeframe and asserted that he suffered damages due to that delay.

The Opinion indicated that the carrier first issued a check to the Plaintiff for approximately $3,700.00 and advised him that it would not pay additional compensation. However, after the Plaintiff filed suit, the carrier then issued an additional payment for another $1,089.00.

The court granted the carrier’s Motion to Dismiss after finding that the Plaintiff’s claim that the carrier had breached the insurance contract by not paying the additional amount failed because the carrier had since sent the Plaintiff a check for that amount in dispute.

The court also found that the Plaintiff failed to establish that the carrier had any contractual or legal duty to process his claims within a certain timeframe or that the Plaintiff had suffered any compensable damages as a result of any purported delay.

The court additionally noted, in this bad faith case, the Plaintiff's claims that the carrier’s purported delay in processing the additional payment failed in that that alleged delay appeared from the record before the court to be the result of negligence rather than any recklessness or bad faith.

Neverthless, the Plaintiff was still granted the right to file an Amended Complaint.

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


Source: “Digest of Recent Opinions.” Pennsylvania Law Weekly (May 27, 2021).