fbpx Skip to content

INSURANCE LAW: Superior Court holds injured motorist adequately pleaded that his underinsured motorist coverage insurer acted in bad faith by knowingly and wrongfully delaying settlement of his claim

The plaintiff was involved in a motor vehicle accident in which the at fault driver’s insurance coverage did not fully reimburse the plaintiff for his losses.  The plaintiff demanded coverage up to the full policy limits from his own insurer and allegedly, the defendant insurer conducted an improper investigation of the claim and denied payment without justification.

Plaintiff filed a suit alleging bad faith and CUIPA and CUTPA violations.  He claimed that two identified employees maliciously undervalued his claim, attempted to settle it for less than they knew it was worth in furtherance of their own interests, and conditioned settlement upon withdrawal of the bad faith claim.

The defendant insurer moved to strike all three claims.  The Court denied the motion as to the bad faith claim but granted as to the CUIPA and CUTPA violations, finding that the plaintiff had sufficiently alleged dishonest purpose.  CUIPA does not authorize a private right of action and with respect to the CUTPA claim, the plaintiff had not alleged that the defendant’s conduct involved more than one insurance claim.

Rood v. Covenant Ins. Co, No. CV 15-6059856-S (01/02/2018)