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Mealey's Insurance Bad Faith

  • September 02, 2025

    Panel Affirms Ruling Denying Attorney Fees Request In Dispute With Property Insurer

    MIAMI — A Florida appellate court affirmed a lower court order denying attorney fees to a homeowner who previously obtained final judgment in her favor in a coverage dispute with her property insurer, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which describes itself on its website as Florida’s “insurer of last resort,” citing case law affirming lower court orders where an appellant failed to appropriately raise issues before the trial court.

  • September 02, 2025

    Pollution Liability Insurer Has No Duty To Defend Insured, Federal Judge Says

    SAN FRANCISCO — A pollution liability insurer has no duty to defend its insured against underlying suits stemming from the insured’s environmental remediation work because the pollution conditions at issue were not unexpected or unintended as required by the policies, a California federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.

  • August 29, 2025

    Panel Affirms Order Tossing Fraud Accident Suit, Cites Process Service Error

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio appellate court on Aug. 28 affirmed a lower court’s order dismissing a fraud, negligence and breach of contract suit filed by one driver against another driver and insurers for purported damages incurred in a motor vehicle accident, finding that the plaintiff’s assignments of error lack merit because service of process was not adequately made on the individual defendant within one year of filing the complaint as required by the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure.

  • August 29, 2025

    Assignee’s Bad Faith, Breach Claims In Dog Attack Suit Will Proceed Against Insurer

    SAVANNAH, Ga. — An assignee’s claims alleging breach of the duty to settle, breach of the duty to pay and bad faith failure to settle will proceed against a homeowners insurer because a possibility of coverage exists under the insured’s policy for an underlying complaint filed against the insured and stemming from a dog attack, a Georgia federal judge said in denying the insurer’s motion to dismiss.

  • August 29, 2025

    Judge: Insurer’s Application Of Aggregate Limit For Wage, Hour Claims Was Proper

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal judge dismissed an insured’s breach of contract and bad faith suit without prejudice after determining that an employment practices liability insurer did not breach the insurance contract or act in bad faith in applying the policy’s maximum aggregate limit of liability for wage and hour claims to the settlement of an underlying class action filed against the insured.

  • August 29, 2025

    Insurer’s Bid To Dismiss Bad Faith Claim Denied By Pennsylvania Federal Judge

    HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania federal judge denied an insurer’s partial motion to dismiss an insured’s bad faith complaint, ruling that the insured set forth sufficient factual allegations to state a claim for relief under Pennsylvania's bad faith statute and further holding that the insured is entitled to discovery.

  • August 29, 2025

    Breach Of Contract, Bad Faith Suit Barred By 2-Year Prescription Period, Judge Says

    LAKE CHARLES, La. — An insured’s breach of contract and bad faith suit is barred by a policy’s two-year prescription period because the insured failed to file suit within two years after the insurer made its final payment for hurricane damages incurred to the insured’s home, a Louisiana federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion to dismiss.

  • August 28, 2025

    5th Circuit: Reinsurer’s Late Notice Of Litigation Constitutes Prejudice

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a Texas federal court’s ruling in a reinsurer’s appeal of a $2,866,423.97 judgment that includes attorney fees, ruling that an insurer’s months-late notice of its involvement in underlying class action litigation constituted a material breach of its quota share treaty with the reinsurer and violated the contract’s notice provision, depriving the reinsurer of its right to participate in the defense and establishing prejudice as a matter of law.

  • August 27, 2025

    11th Circuit Affirms Ruling In Insurer’s Favor In Food Supplier’s Bad Faith Suit

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 26 affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insurer in a food supplier insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for its equipment damage and business income losses arising from three separate events, finding that the insured failed to give prompt notice of its loss.

  • August 26, 2025

    Fraud, Breach Of Duty Of Good Faith Claims Dismissed In Water Damage Dispute

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — An Alabama federal judge granted a property insurer’s motion to dismiss claims alleging fraud and breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing because the insured fails to allege facts in support of the fraud claims and because Alabama law does not recognize a claim for breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing.

  • August 25, 2025

    Bad Faith Claim Proceeds, Punitive Damages Request Nixed In Asbestos Coverage Suit

    NEW YORK — An insured’s bad faith claim against an umbrella insurer in a dispute over coverage for underlying asbestos bodily injury lawsuits filed against the insured can proceed because the claim is not duplicative of the breach of contract claim; however, the insured’s request for punitive damages cannot proceed because the insured failed to show that the insurer’s actions caused any harm to the public as required to support the claim under New York law, a New York federal judge said.

  • August 25, 2025

    Parties Stipulate To Dismissing LTD Case Filed Over Commission Calculations

    NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Without substantive explanation, an insurer and disability claimant stipulated to dismissal with prejudice of a suit in Connecticut federal court challenging the discontinuation of long-term disability (LTD) benefits, with “all parties to bear their own costs and attorneys’ fees.”

  • August 22, 2025

    Nevada Federal Judge Tosses Auto Collision Coverage Suit For Lack Of Policy Basis

    LAS VEGAS — A Nevada federal judge granted an insurer’s motion to dismiss an insured employee’s breach of contract and bad faith suit over insurance coverage following an auto collision after finding that no coverage is afforded under his employer’s policy based on a waiver of coverage for underinsured motorist (UIM) benefits signed by the insured’s employer when the policy was issued.

  • August 22, 2025

    Insured Did Not Show Property Insurer Failed To Timely Make Payments, Panel Says

    BOSTON — The Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed the dismissal of an insured’s breach of contract claim after determining that the insured did not meet his burden of showing that the property insurer failed to timely make payments that were clearly covered by the policy.

  • August 22, 2025

    Breach Of Contract, Bad Faith Claims Will Proceed Against Homeowners Insurers

    SAN DIEGO — An insured’s breach of contract and bad faith claims will proceed against homeowners insurers in a putative class action suit filed by a homeowner who claims that her insurer wrongfully refused to renew her homeowners policy because the insured sufficiently alleged facts in support of the claims, a California federal judge said.

  • August 21, 2025

    Auto Insurer Is Entitled To Judgment On Bad Faith Claim, Judge Says

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — A South Carolina federal judge granted an auto insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings on an insured’s bad faith claim after determining that the insured failed to identify any consequential damages caused by the insurer’s alleged bad faith conduct.

  • August 20, 2025

    Farmers’ Extracontractual Damages Claim Amended To Dismissal Without Prejudice

    COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee federal judge partially granted farmers’ motion for reconsideration of a September 2024 ruling dismissing their claim for extracontractual damages against a crop insurer, amending the dismissal of the claim to be without prejudice, citing a related pending case against federal regulators that could potentially invalidate the rationale for the original dismissal.

  • August 20, 2025

    ‘Coverage Position Is Frivolous And Unfounded,’ Insured Argues In Data Breach Suit

    GAINESVILLE, Fla. — An insured sued its insurer in a federal court in Georgia for breach of contract and bad faith seeking cyber defense coverage for putative class actions brought as a result of a 2024 data breach.

  • August 19, 2025

    Producer’s Reconsideration Bid On Discovery Limits Denied In Cleanup Cost Row

    PADUCAH, Ky. — A Kentucky federal judge denied a ferrosilicon producer’s motion to reconsider a prior ruling that limited the scope of the producer’s issued deposition topics, holding that the producer’s objections were largely repetitions of prior arguments already considered and addressed by the court and that claims-handling discovery is inappropriate at the current stage of litigation, which is centered on a reinsurance contract in a dispute over pollution-related cleanup costs.

  • August 19, 2025

    Question Of Fact Exists As To Whether Ongoing Water Leakage Exclusion Applies

    BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge denied a motion for judgment on the pleadings filed by insureds who are seeking coverage for water damage in their home because a question of fact exists as to whether the policy’s exclusion barring coverage for ongoing water leakage applies.

  • August 18, 2025

    Insurer, Property Owner Seek Protective Order In Suit Over Defective Workmanship

    PHOENIX — An excess commercial insurer and an apartment complex owner asked an Arizona federal court to issue a protective order as to discovery in the insurer’s lawsuit seeking a declaration that an underlying $6 million stipulated judgment arising from defective workmanship claims cannot be enforced against it.

  • August 15, 2025

    Geico Bad Faith Coverage Claims Trimmed, But Breach Of Contract Claims Kept Alive

    LAS VEGAS — A Nevada federal judge granted in part and denied in part an auto insurer’s motion to dismiss a policyholder’s bad faith coverage suit, dismissing without prejudice claims for tortious and contractual breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and violation of Nevada's Unfair Insurance Practices Act (NUIPA) but allowing breach of contract and punitive damage claims to proceed, while holding that it was premature for the insurer to invoke the genuine dispute doctrine.

  • August 14, 2025

    Pa. Federal Judge Dismisses Bad Faith Claim In Dust Contamination Coverage Suit

    PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge on Aug. 13 dismissed a bad faith claim alleged against a homeowners insurer after determining that the insureds, who are seeking coverage for an infiltration of dust in their home, failed to show that the insurer’s denial of coverage based on the policy’s exclusions for pollution and defective workmanship was unreasonable.

  • August 14, 2025

    N.J. Panel Affirms Dismissal Of Townhouse Owner’s Bad Faith Coverage Dispute

    TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a townhouse owner’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for underlying intentional interference, assault and harassment claims brought against him by a condominium association and its board members, finding that the underlying claims are premised on the plaintiff’s intentional acts and intent to cause the alleged harm.

  • August 14, 2025

    Trial Court Did Not Err In Failing To Address Untimely Bad Faith Claims, Panel Says

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A trial court did not err in failing to address an assignee’s bad faith claims in a coverage dispute arising out of a shooting at an insured establishment because the bad faith claims were untimely raised in an amended complaint that was effectively denied when the trial court entered summary judgment in favor of the insurer on the issue of coverage, a New Mexico Court of Appeals panel said.