The court first observed that in its earlier decision, the dispute over the claim value was not the basis for a breach of contract claim, where the insureds could not show the actual breach of a contractual duty.
In allowing the bad faith claim to proceed, the court had “expressly found that the amended complaint limited the bad faith claim to the delay in the appraisal process,” not value. Thus, it rejected the insureds’ current effort to assert bad faith for undervaluing of the claim, which the court found “irrelevant.”
The court summarized the law concerning delay and bad faith. “[A] bad faith insurance practice can include an unreasonable delay in handling or paying claims.” “Thus, even when ‘an insurance claim has been settled and paid, Pennsylvania’s bad faith statute provides insurance claimants a means of redressing unreasonable delays by their insurers.’”
To establish a claim of bad faith based on the insurer’s delay in paying the claim, the plaintiff must show that (1) the delay was attributable to the insurer; (2) the insurer had no reasonable basis for causing the delay; and (3) the insurer knew or recklessly disregarded the lack of a reasonable basis for the delay.”
It is “[t]he plaintiff [who] bears the burden of establishing delay by clear and convincing evidence.” “A long period of time between demand and settlement does not, on its own, necessarily constitute bad faith.” Further, “’[i]f delay is attributable to the need to investigate further or even to simple negligence, no bad faith has occurred.’”
The court closely analyzed the history of the parties’ conduct of the appraisal process. The court found the first alleged delay of 5 weeks in acknowledging the appraisal demand was de minimis, and could not lead a reasonable jury to find bad faith.
Moreover, after acknowledging the demand, the insurer’s appraiser reached out to the insureds’ appraiser, but the insureds’ appraiser stated he could not begin work until he had a signed agreement with the insureds. Once he had that signed agreement, the two appraisers then executed a joint declaration and began their inspections. This could not be the basis for a bad faith claim.
The court also rejected the argument for bad faith during a subsequent 5-month period during the appraisal process. Both appraisers carried out investigations during the first three months of this period. The insurer’s appraiser also had lab tests done regarding asbestos remediation, investigated the HVAC system, and conducted extensive research in response to the insureds’ claim for engineering and architectural fees, which involved multiple interviews with the plaintiffs’ engineer and architect.
Part of a month-long time lapse thereafter included deference by the insurer to the insureds’ appraiser traveling to Florida for his mother’s funeral. Once he returned, both appraisers spoke again, and submitted the claim to an umpire.
In sum, plaintiffs could not meet their burden to establish that the putative “delay was unreasonable, that it was solely attributable to [the insurer] or that [the insurer] had no reasonable basis for causing any such delay.” Any alleged delays were “an ordinary part of legal and insurance work.”
The eight months at issue from the time of demand to the time of the umpire’s meeting was “relatively minimal,” and during “that period, both parties’ appraisers were actively conducting investigations, with much of the actual delay attributable to plaintiffs’ own adjuster.”
The court granted summary judgment for the insurer.
