Here’s an interesting question recently confronted by the Ninth Circuit: Is it bad faith for an insurance company to refuse to initiate settlement discussions in a third-party context when liability has become reasonably clear? The carrier (Deerbrook, an Allstate company) took the position that bad faith could not exist unless the carrier failed to
bad faith
Insurance Bad Faith
By Gene Killian on
Posted in Bad Faith
In ethics or metaphysics, the “law of unintended consequences” states that, for any willed action, there are consequences that occur which are not intended. The concept has long existed, but was named and popularized in the 20th century by American sociologist Robert K. Merton.
Merton would have been fascinated by laws that were intended…
Developments in insurance bad faith law
By Gene Killian on
Posted in Bad Faith, Emerging Trends
Awhile back on this blog, we were discussing developments in insurance bad faith law, and I hypothesized that Courts were generally more apt to find bad faith in cases involving a carrier’s delay of benefits, rather than outright denial. But what if the outright denial contains a bald-faced lie, or a deliberate omission? In that…
Bad faith law in New Jersey
By Gene Killian on
Posted in Bad Faith
Got into a discussion recently with some of my policyholder counsel friends. They were lamenting the death of bad faith law in New Jersey. When a carrier unreasonably denies or delays paying a claim, the key case is supposed to be Pickett v. Lloyd’s, 131 N.J. 457 (1993), which was written by the late…
The duty of good faith and fair dealing in litigation
By Gene Killian on
Posted in Bad Faith
Really good stuff over at Chip Merlin’s blog about what happens when insurance companies and trial lawyers mislead courts.
The insurance company’s duty to negotiate in good faith
By Gene Killian on
Needless to say, it can be very dangerous for insurance companies to “roll the dice.” Over at the Michigan Auto Lawyers Blog, Steve Gursten tells the story of an adjuster who showed up 40 minutes late for a mediation, and then wouldn’t go north of $1 million in a catastrophic truck accident case involving serious personal injury. The…
The Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act
By Gene Killian on
Posted in Bad Faith
Right now, I’m preparing for a coverage trial involving aspects of both New Jersey and Massachusetts law. I was reviewing the Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Acts (“UCSPA”) adopted in both states, and I noticed the following.
The New Jersey version of UCSPA prohibits certain bad behavior if committed “with such frequency as to indicate…
Bad faith law in New Jersey
By Gene Killian on
Posted in Bad Faith
Recently, one of my friends in the insurance defense bar told me that he’d been given a very strict standing order by his insurance company client. In any case involving a potential conflict-of-laws situation, he was prohibited from EVER arguing for the application of New Jersey law.
This attitude stems from cases like the New…