Tag Archives: Bad Faith

Key issues for policyholders under Florida’s new tort reform bill

On the heels of last year’s special session on Florida’s property insurance crisis, which, among other things, eliminated one-way fee shifting in property insurance cases, the Florida Legislature has now passed even more aggressive pro-insurer legislation as part of a broader tort reform bill aimed at addressing “frivolous” litigation. House Bill 837 is not limited … Continue Reading

An insurance company’s refusal to settle can be bad faith, even if the policyholder ultimately prevails at trial

By Matt Rosso on 8 March 2023 Posted in Commercial General Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General

As a general rule, if a policyholder reasonably attempts to settle a case for an amount at or within the limits of its insurance policy, the insurance company must put the policyholder’s interests above its own. Typically, if the insurance company does not accept a reasonable settlement within limits, then it may be responsible for a judgment … Continue Reading

“Myopic” ruling limits policyholders’ ability to recover for common law bad faith in West Virginia

By Mike Sampson and Jorge Rojas on 30 November 2017 Posted in Commercial General Liability, Construction Coverage, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General, Insurance News of Note

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia has made it harder for policyholders to prevail on claims of common law bad faith against insurers in that state. In State of West Virginia ex rel. State Auto Property Insurance Companies v. Stucky, No. 17-0257, 2017 WL 4582607 (W. Va. Oct. 10, 2017), West Virginia’s highest … Continue Reading

365 Days Later: Lessons Learned from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court

By Mike Sampson, Brian Himmel, Andrew Muha and Traci Rea on 15 December 2015 Posted in Commercial General Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General, Insurance News of Note

One year ago today, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued the first two of four important insurance-coverage law opinions that it would hand down in 2014 and 2015. Those four decisions – which address a number of topics including insurer bad faith, trigger of coverage, policy exclusions, and settlements and reservations of rights – significantly impacted … Continue Reading

You Can Assign Your Bad Faith Claims in Pennsylvania

By Luke Debevec on 18 December 2014 Posted in Insurance News of Note

This week, in a 5-1 decision resolving a certified question from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court adopted the positions advanced by Reed Smith LLP on behalf of United Policyholders, concluding that policyholders are permitted to settle claims against them by assigning to plaintiffs and other claimants their rights to both statutory and common law-based bad faith claims against their insurance companies.… Continue Reading