BAD FAITH ADEQUATELY PLEADED IN RAISING BIAS ON PART OF INSURER’S EXPERT (Middle District)
As we posted earlier today, the theme is plaintiffs adequately pleading bad faith claims in federal court.
In this second post, the insured set out plausible bad faith claims in this property damage case by making specific factual allegations. The key assertions were that the insurer improperly “hired, retained and relied upon the opinion of an engineer or other professional knowing that such opinion would be favorable to [the insurer] on a financial incentive basis; and (2) disregarded information provided to it from the Plaintiffs that [the insurer’s] inspection and engineering report was inadequate, flawed, and erroneous.”
The court found the “complaint, taken as a whole, goes beyond a mere boilerplate recital of the elements of the statute. Rather, as we construe the complaint, it provides a chronology detailing alleged failures … to evaluate this claim in good faith. Instead, according to the plaintiffs [the insurer] relied upon false justifications to deny their claim; under-valuated their property; failed to account for the loss of use of the property; and demonstrated bad faith in its investigation of this insurance claim in 14 different ways, including specific allegations that [the insurer]: (1) hired, retained and relied upon the opinion of an engineer or other professional knowing that such opinion would be favorable to Allstate on a financial incentive basis; and (2) disregarded information provided to it from the Plaintiffs that Allstate’s inspection and engineering report was inadequate, flawed, and erroneous.”
The issue of the expert’s alleged financial bias could not be resolved in a judgment on the pleadings. “Thus, the plaintiffs’ complaint raises questions of motivation and bias which cannot be resolved on the pleadings alone. Therefore, the task of determining whether this expert report provides a defense as a matter of law to the bad faith claim in this case, in our view, may not be performed on consideration of a motion for judgment on the pleadings, where we must simply assess the adequacy of the pleadings. Instead, assessment of any such defense must await a properly documented motion for summary judgment.”
Date of Decisions: January 8, 2019 (Report and Recommendation), adopted by District Court on April 25, 2019
