TWO BAD FAITH CLAIMS DISMISSED FOR EITHER MAKING CONCLUSORY ALLEGATIONS OR ALLEGING FACTS THAT DO NOT CONSTITUTE BAD FAITH (Philadelphia Federal)

In these two Philadelphia federal opinions issued last week, bad faith claims were dismissed without prejudice. In one case, this was based on a set of pleadings that has been repeatedly held conclusory in nature. In the other, after stripping away the conclusory allegations, the court found that the remaining factual allegations simply did not make out a bad faith case.

There have been at least 10 prior opinions out of Pennsylvania’s Eastern District this year similarly dismissing bad faith claims for inadequate pleading.

1. Lopez v. Selective Insurance Co. of South Carolina (Judge Schiller, Eastern District)

In Lopez v. Selective Insurance, Judge Schiller found the complaint set out only conclusory allegations, and that these allegations “did not logically follow from any facts alleged in the Complaint.” These included the following 13 separate allegations, all of which failed:

“[S]ending correspondence falsely representing that Plaintiff’s loss caused by a peril insured against under the Policy was not entitled to benefits due and owing under the policy . . . failing to complete a prompt and thorough investigation of Plaintiff’s claim before representing that such claim is not covered under the Policy . . . failing to pay Plaintiff’s covered loss in a prompt and timely manner . . . failing to objectively and fairly evaluate Plaintiff’s claim . . . conducting an unfair and unreasonable investigation of Plaintiff’s claim . . . asserting Policy defenses without a reasonable basis in fact . . . flatly misrepresenting pertinent facts or policy provisions relating to coverages at issue and placing unduly restrictive interpretations on the Policy and/or claim forms . . . failing to keep Plaintiff or their representatives fairly and adequately advised as to the status of the claim . . . unreasonably valuing the loss and failing to fairly negotiate the amount of the loss with Plaintiff or their representatives . . . failing to promptly provide a reasonable factual explanation of the basis for the denial of Plaintiff’s claim . . . unreasonably withholding policy benefits . . . acting unreasonably and unfairly in response to Plaintiff’s claim . . . unnecessarily and unreasonably compelling Plaintiff to institute this lawsuit to obtain policy benefits for a covered loss, that Defendant should have paid promptly and without the necessity of litigation.”

In describing what the complaint lacked, Judge Schiller observed, “[t]he Complaint does not contain any factual allegations that relate to why or how Defendant’s basis for denying the claim was unreasonable. Indeed, the Complaint does not include any facts related to Defendant’s purported basis for denying the claim or Defendant’s actions or omissions in conducting an investigation. Plaintiff’s Complaint does not describe the cause or extent of the alleged loss, the provisions of the insurance policy at issue, the date on which Plaintiff made Defendant aware of the loss, or the date on which Defendant initially denied the claim. Plaintiff’s conclusory allegations are not supported by specific facts sufficient to state a plausible claim for relief. Courts consistently hold that bare-bones allegations of bad faith such as these, without more, are insufficient to survive a motion to dismiss.”

As with a number of other recent opinions, including his own opinion in Park v. Evanston, Judge Schiller relies on the Third Circuit’s Smith decision, as well as Judge Leeson’s McDonough decision, and Judge Gardner’s Atiyeh decision.

Plaintiffs relied on the 1009 Clinton Properties opinion, but consistent with a number of other recent decisions, Judge Schiller found Clinton Properties to be an “outlier” and rejected the insureds’ argument. Clinton Properties has similarly been deemed an outlier by Judge Marston in her Cappuccio decision, Judge Darnell Jones in Clapps, and Judge Leeson in Shetayh. These cases rejected very similar allegations in each instance.

Date of Decision: June 17, 2020

Lopez v. Selective Insurance Co., U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania CIVIL ACTION No. 20-1260, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105733 (E.D. Pa. June 17, 2020) (Schiller, J.)

2. Graves v. USAA General Indemnity Co. (Judge Gallagher, Eastern District)

The insureds brought UIM breach of contract and bad faith claims. The court dismissed for failing to plead anything other than conclusory allegations or facts that could not constitute bad faith.

After stripping away the conclusory allegations, the court found the following factual allegations, even assuming their truth, failed “to support a claim that Defendant adjusted the UIM claim in bad faith.”

“1) Plaintiff was operating a motor vehicle which was insured under a USAA insurance contract and which provided for UIM benefits; 2) the accident was caused by the third party; 3) Plaintiff suffered severe injuries as a result of the accident; 4) Plaintiff submitted a claim for UIM benefits; 5) Plaintiff complied with the policy’s requirement to obtain Defendant’s consent to settle her claim against the third party; 6) Plaintiff forwarded her medical documentation to Defendant; and 7) Defendant has not paid the UIM claim.”

Graves v. USAA General Indemnity Co., U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania Civil No. 2:20-cv-00786-JMG, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105123 (June 16, 2020) (Gallagher, J.)