INJURED PARTY HAS NO STANDING TO BRING DIRECT THIRD PARTY BAD FAITH CLAIM, EVEN IF AN ADDITIONAL INSURED; BAD FAITH COVERAGE DENIAL CANNOT BE BASIS FOR PUNITIVE DAMAGES (New Jersey Federal)
The plaintiff stored its food products in the insured’s warehouse. The products were damaged and plaintiff made demand for the damages. The insured sought indemnification from its carrier, which refused coverage based on a care, custody and control exclusion.
The plaintiff sued, and the insured joined its insurer as a third party defendant seeking indemnification against plaintiff’s claims. The injured plaintiff itself also brought third party claims against the same insurer for declaratory judgment and bad faith, both for third party liability and bad faith, and for first party claims. The defendant was an additional insured under the policy. [Though not discussed below, the plaintiff also joined the insured’s agent for failing to obtain proper coverage.]
The insurer sought summary judgment on the insured’s liability claims and plaintiff’s third party claims. The insurer also sought to dismiss the plaintiff’s punitive damages claim against the insurer on the first party claims.
As to the insured’s liability claim, the court denied summary judgment based on a reasonable expectations argument that required more discovery of the facts on what the insured sought and what the carrier led the insured to believe.
As to the plaintiff’s direct third party and bad faith claims against the defendant’s insurer, the court granted summary judgment. While plaintiff was an additional insured, it was not seeking a defense or coverage for claims made against it. Rather, it was seeking to force the insurer to indemnify the insured against the plaintiff’s own claims. Under the policy, and New Jersey law, the plaintiff had no standing to bring direct indemnity claims prior to any settlement or judgment; and it had no standing to bring bad faith claims that only belonged to the insured.
The insurer did not seek summary judgment on plaintiff’s first party claims, but only sought to dismiss the punitive damages claim associated with that count.
The court framed this as follows: “Plaintiff submits that its Third Party Complaint sufficiently supports an award based on egregious and wonton willful disregard by [the insurer] because it shows that [the insurer] denied [the insured] first party coverage in contravention of the terms of the policy and insurance agent’s understanding of the policy.” [It is not clear why the plaintiff had standing to bring a first party claim on the basis that the insurer denied coverage to another party, the insured, which was also a party to the case and was well able to bring such a claim if it were viable.]
The court held that even if the insured denied the first party coverage claim in bad faith, this was insufficient to state a punitive damages claim. The court observed that New Jersey’s Supreme Court does not allow for punitive damages in wrongful refusal to pay first party claims absent egregious circumstances, and an alleged bad faith breach of the insurance contract does not by itself reach that level. “Therefore, here, even if the Third Party complaint supports the inference that [the insurer’s] denial was wrongful or in bad faith, the allegation[s] do not support Plaintiff’s conclusion that denying liability on the basis that the policy did not cover damage to property of others was egregious conduct.”
Date of Decision: March 18, 2020
Pavino v. Cold Storage, U.S. District Court District of New Jersey Civil Action No. 18-14596, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46562 (D.N.J. Mar. 18, 2020) (Rodriguez, J.)
