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...
Ex parte GEICO Indem. Co., et al.: When an UIM insurer allows the applicable statute of limitations to run as to any “new” claims that it may assert directly against a tortfeasor, the UIM insurer (1) maintains its rights to opt out of the litigation and decline to consent to the settlement between the claimant and tortfeasor, pursuant to its consent-to-settle clause in the policy, and (2) may still obtain reimbursement from the insured’s recovery against the tortfeasor. Consent-to-Settle Clauses and UIM Carrier Subrogation Rights The matters addressed in this decision arise from separate automobile accidents involving persons having underinsured...
Jimmy L. Johnson, Jr. v. First Acceptance Insurance Company, Inc.: In Alabama, UIM coverage may only be rejected by an insured in writing, but the unanswered question is whether an electronic signature is sufficient for rejecting UIM coverage. The parties in this case squandered an opportunity to have the court decide what would have been a matter of first impression on the issue. After being involved in a motor vehicle accident, Jimmy L. Johnson, Jr. sued his insurance provider, First Acceptance Insurance Company, Inc. (“First Acceptance”) on July 28, 2014, seeking underinsured motorist (“UIM”) benefits. First Acceptance answered the suit,...
