Denial of Stacked Benefits Under Sec. 1738 Not Bad Faith
In Trustgard Insurance Company v. Amber Campbell, et al., 16 cv 1013 ( Mem. Op. W.D.PA 2016), the United States District Court was asked to determine if an insurer had acted in bad faith pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 8371 by denying stacked UIM...
Superior Court Allows Minor Deviations on Sec. 1731 UIM Rejection Form – Petty v. Federated Mut. Ins. Co.
The Superior Court has upheld a UM/UIM rejection form with minor deviations in the statutory language under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1731. The Plaintiffs were injured passengers in a vehicle owned by a local car dealer. The car dealer had rejected underinsured...
Order Compelling Privileged Information is Immediately Appealable
In Farrell v. Regola, 2016 Pa. Super. 241 (2016), the administrator of the estate of a deceased minor brought a wrongful death suit against a gun manufacturer and a neighbor after the decedent committed suicide with a gun owned by that neighbor....
Partial Summary Judgment Awarded to Plaintiffs by Establishing Negligence Per Se of the Defendant
In the case of Broe v. Manns, No. 3:15-cv-985 (M.D. Pa. Sept. 27, 2016 Munley, J.), Judge James M. Munley of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania granted a rare partial motion for summary judgment filed by the...
Western District Court Denies Coverage for Workmanship Claim
ACUITY v. KNISELY & SONS, INC., No. 3:15-76. (W.D. Pa. Aug. 9, 2016)(Gibson, J.) In this declaratory judgment action, Acuity a determination as to its rights and obligations pursuant to its Commercial General Liability Insurance Policy issued...
Western District of Pennsylvania Addresses Inter-Policy Stacking Issues
The Federal District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania addressed the amount of UIM coverage owed to Plaintiff in an inter-policy stacking case in Costa v Progressive Preferred Insurance Company, No.2:16-cv-74 (W.D. Pa. June 10,...
Western District denies UIM carrier’s Motion For Partial Summary Judgment
This matter arose out of a claim for personal injuries arising out of a pedestrian/motor vehicle accident brought by Francine Smith against Progressive Specialty Insurance Company, her UIM carrier. Smith v. Progressive, No. 2:15-cv-528 (Memorandum...
UM/UIM Rejections Addressed in Two Recent WDPA Cases
Recently, two decisions from the U.S. District Court’s Western District addressed the issue of Underinsured Motorist Coverage Rejections when there are subsequently added vehicles. In the case of Allstate v. Gierlach, No. 2:13-cv-699 (W.D. Pa....
When Should a Settling Defendant be on the Verdict Slip at Trial?
On September 4, 2015, in Dunlap v. Ridley Park Swim Club, et al., No. 3199 EDA 2014, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania addressed the issue of when a settling defendant should be on the Verdict Slip at trial. Maryann C. Dunlap (“Dunlap”) was...
Middle District Interprets Sackett Trilogy and Reinforces Seiple
Judge Manion of the Middle District of Pennsylvania recently upheld the stacking rejection under a Progressive motorcycle policy after the addition of a newly acquired vehicle when the insured had waived stacking at the policy’s inception. In...
Auto Insurance Coverage Extends To Named Insured’s Son’s Girlfriend
In a case of first impression, Judge Bernstein of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County recently ruled in Nationwide Insurance v. Geico Insurance, that automobile insurance extends to a woman’s son’s girlfriend despite the fact that the...
Adjusters Could Face Negligence Claims in Pennsylvania State Courts
Predicting that Pennsylvania courts may allow for negligence claims against individual insurance adjusters, U.S District Judge Thomas N. O’Neill recently held that Plaintiffs did not fraudulently bring suit against individual adjusters in a...