Bad Faith Blog

The Regular Session of the 102nd General Assembly began on January 4 and will adjourn on May 12. In the first month of the Session, the General Assembly has introduced several bills which insurers may want to keep an eye on.

On June 1, 2018, legislation affording new protections to insurers when interpleading policy limits was enacted. The legislation, known as HB 1531, amends R.S.Mo. § 507.060, which governs the joinder of parties in an interpleader action. Specifically, the amendment modifies existing language with insurance-specific terminology and adds five additional subsections with definitions, procedural mechanisms for interpleader, and rights and limitations of an interpleading insurer.

The Tenth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of State Farm on the insureds’ count for bad faith relating to a property damage claim. The court found State Farm relied upon a legitimate dispute of the scope of coverage in initially denying and delaying agreement to an appraisal. The court further found the insureds had produced no evidence to support their claim State Farm performed an inadequate investigation of the claim. The insureds disputed the findings of State Farm’s investigation was insufficient to infer the investigation was inadequate.