When Is An Insurance Company Liable for “Bad Faith Failure to Pay”?
Ragland v. State Farm Mutual Auto. Ins. Co.: In a UM/UIM context, the validity of a bad faith failure to pay claim against an insurance company may be entirely dependent on the success of an underlying liability claim, and is not be ready for adjudication until after the underlying claim has been decided. Ragland’s Allegations against State Farm In July 2016, Lamar Ragland filed a lawsuit against State Farm, seeking punitive damages for State Farm’s alleged bad-faith failure to pay and related failure to subject Ragland’s claim for underinsured motorist (“UIM”) benefits for cognitive review. Ragland made the following allegations: He...
