DECMEBER 2007 BAD FAITH CASES NO BAD FAITH UNDER FORCED-PLACED INSURANCE POLICY SINCE HOMEOWNER WAS NOT LISTED AS A NAMED INSURED UNDER THE POLICY (Philadelphia Federal)
In Caplen v. Security National Servicing Corp., Inc., plaintiff filed a complaint asserting claims for breach of contract and bad faith against an insurance carrier that insured plaintiff’s home through a forced-placed insurance policy purchased by plaintiff’s home mortgage lender. The defendant insurer, however, filed a Motion for Summary Judgment and all of plaintiff’s claims were dismissed because plaintiff was not listed as a named insured under the forced-placed policy.
The Court held that the forced-placed policy insured the lender’s interests and not the plaintiff’s interests and since plaintiff was not a named insured under the policy, the defendant insurer owed neither a contractual nor fiduciary duty towards the plaintiff.
Date of decision: September 17, 2007
Caplen v. Security National Servicing Corp., United States District Court for the Eastern District of PA, No. 05-5982, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74473 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 17, 2007). (Brody, J.)
