Bad Faith

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     After enduring a tortured, ultimately failed attempt to negotiate a settlement under a renter’s protection policy, the insured sued.  The trial court granted United Services Automobile Association’s motion for summary judgment, but the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals vacated the decision and remanded for a determination of whether USAA’s interpretation of its policy…

     In dual decisions, two motions for partial summary judgment were decided by the federal district court in Louisiana involving State Farm and its insureds.  See Perrien v. State Farm Ins. Co., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53820 (E.D. La. July 14, 2008); Perrien v. State Farm Ins. Co., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS…

Stripping the job of an insurance company to its basic components reveals a gritty truth: insurance companies make money by collecting more than they pay out.  A successful operation depends on exercising good judgment on what risks to insure (or charging high enough premiums).  Unfortunately, an insurer can also vigorously oppose attempts to obtain coverage…

Practitioners have noticed, and have been puzzled by, a schism in the Supreme Court of Hawai`i’s rulings on attorneys’ fees in bad faith actions.  At least one case held that a bad faith action was in the nature of assumpsit and, thus, awarded fees to the insurer from the insured.  Six months later, another case…

     The California Supreme Court decided a bad faith case last week. See Wilson v. 21st Century Ins. Co., No. S 141790 (Cal. Sup. Ct. Nov. 29, 2007).  In Wilson, eight months after the plaintiff policy holder was injured, the insurer rejected her demand for payment of the $100,000 policy limit on her

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