SIMPLY DENYING CLAIM OR REFUSING TO PRODUCE UNDERWRITING FILE NOT BAD FAITH; UIPA VIOLATIONS MUST BE A REGULAR BUSINESS PRACTICE TO BE CONSIDERED AS EVIDENCE (Philadelphia Federal)
This UIM bad faith opinion includes instructive points on factual allegations that only create possible, but not plausible, claims and on the use of alleged Unfair Insurance Practices Act (UIPA) violations as evidence. The opinion also includes the more common observations admonishing against conclusory pleading.
The bad faith claims in this case concern alleged misrepresentations of UIM coverage in connection with stacking, a refusal to provide the underwriting file, and a claim that the insurer forced the insured to file suit just to obtain documents. The court dismissed the bad faith claims, but with leave to amend.
ADEQUATE PLEADING STANDARDS
As with many other cases issuing out of the Eastern District this year, the court made clear that conclusory allegations are given no regard in supporting a bad faith pleading. Like many of those courts, Judge Baylson cited the Third Circuit’s Smith opinion on this point, as well as his own opinions in Eley and Robbins.
There were three factual allegations that went beyond mere conclusory pleading, though still not adequate to state a claim because they only made bad faith possible, not plausible.
Refusal to Pay Not Enough
“Defendant denied Plaintiff’s claim for UIM stacking of benefits for five vehicles….” As to this allegation, Judge Baylson found that “a plaintiff cannot base a bad faith claim on the defendant’s refusal to pay. A disagreement over the amount of a UIM claim is not unusual, and the existence of such disagreement cannot by itself state a viable bad faith claim.” He relied on Johnson v. Progressive Ins. Co., for the proposition that “[t]he underlying facts involve nothing more than a normal dispute between an insured and insurer over the value of an UIM claim. The scenario under consideration occurs routinely in the processing of an insurance claim.”
Refusal to Turn Over Underwriting File
“Defendant refused to provide the underwriting file upon request….” Judge Baylson found the insurer’s alleged “refusal to provide the underwriting document is comparable to the allegation of parallel conduct in Twombly, which ‘gets the complaint close to stating a claim, but without some further factual enhancement it stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility of entitlement to relief.’” He added that “[i]n insurance coverage disputes, underwriting files often contain an insurer’s evaluation of the risks presented on an insurance application, along with other confidential business information. Although a showing of Defendant’s refusal to disclose the underwriting file may be consistent with bad faith, it is also as much in line with ‘a wide swath of rational and competitive business strategy.’”
Don’t Make the Court Speculate that an Alleged Fact Might Possibly be Bad Faith
3. “Defendant required Plaintiff to file a lawsuit in order to obtain the documents that will confirm the coverage.” Although not addressed separately, this allegation fell under the general concept the court will not infer bad faith because a possibility of bad faith exists. Rather, the factual allegations must stand by themselves as a plausible basis for a bad faith claim. Plausibility means the court does not have to speculate on what the allegation might imply.
UIPA Violations Must Show the Actions at Issue Occurred on a Regular Basis as a General Business Practice
The insured argued that he should be allowed to use UIPA violations as evidence of bad faith. The carrier countered that UIPA violations might only be evidence of bad faith “when the actions in question were a general business practice,” and the insured did not make any allegations to this effect. Judge Baylson found the complaint was devoid of specific factual allegations concerning putative UIPA violations.
Judge Baylson stated that “31 Pa. Code § 146.1 (1978) provides that such violations ‘will be deemed to constitute unfair claims settlement practices’ if they occur with “a frequency that indicates a general business practice.’” Judge Baylson relied on his 2017 Jack decision, to support his conclusion that the insured “pleaded no factual allegations showing that Defendant’s actions occur on a regular basis that constitutes a general business practice.”
Date of Decision: June 22, 2020
Dietz v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania No. 2:20-cv-1239-MMB, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108559 (E.D. Pa. June 22, 2020) (Baylson, J.)
