Daily Archive for November 8th, 2018

The insurer ceased making payments under a disability policy on the basis of two independent medical examinations, and its interpretation that the results of those examinations fell outside the policy’s coverage. The insured brought various claims, including bad faith. The court ruled in the insurer’s favor on summary judgment.

First, the insurer had a reasonable basis to deny the claim. Insurers “may reasonably rely on the findings of an independent medical examination—even in the face of contrary medical opinions.” The insured argued the insurer unfairly favored its physician/expert opinion over the treating physicians’ opinions, however, “an insurer is not required to give greater credence to opinions of treating medical providers.”

Second, the record did not yield an inference that there was a frivolous or unfounded refusal to pay. The record showed a thorough investigation, with reviews by medical experts, and requests and reviews of relevant documents. This created a reasonable basis for denial.

Finally, “an insurer has a right to evaluate legitimate coverage issues and does not act in bad faith by aggressively protecting its interests.” Merely insinuating a pre-determined intent to deny a claim is not sufficient to meet the burden of actually establishing bad faith. Plaintiff’s claims handling examples adduced to discredit the insurer, did not actually evidence improper claims handling, “or that their methods otherwise went beyond mere negligence and constituted conduct amounting to bad faith.”

Date of Decision: November 2, 2018

Brugler v. Unum Group & Provident Life & Accident Ins. Co., U. S. District Court Middle District of Pennsylvania No. 4:15-CV-01031, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 187836 (M.D. Pa. Nov. 2, 2018) (Brann, J.)