In the past, Rhode Island courts have upheld insurance policy provisions that require insureds to commence legal action against the insurance company within a time period that is less than the legislatively-enacted statute of limitations. See, e.g., National...
Month: April 2021
Taxable Cost Award Capped by Insurance Policy Limits According to the Minnesota Supreme Court
Under Minn. Stat. §604.18, insureds are entitled to recover taxable costs when an insurance company unreasonably denies insurance benefits. The statute provides a remedy of one-half of the “proceeds awarded” that are in excess of an amount offered by the insurer or...
USE OF EMPLOYER’S VEHICLE WHILE INTOXICATED DID NOT EXCEED SCOPE OF PERMISSIVE USE
Recently the United States 11th Circuit Court of Appeals held, in Great American Alliance Insurance Co. v. Anderson 847 F.3d. 1327 (11th Cir. 2017) that an employee did not go beyond the scope of the employer’s permissive use of a company vehicle when the employee...
MASSACHUSETTS BAD FAITH STATUTE DOES NOT INCLUDE PRE-JUDGMENT INTEREST IN THE MULTIPLIER
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held in Anderson v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. Pittsburgh, PA 476 Mass. 377, 67 N.E. 3d 1232 (2017) that post-judgment interest on a judgment against a driver and owner were not part of the damages to be trebled under...
FAILURE TO KEEP IME DOCTOR UPDATED ON PLAINTIFF’S CONDITION CAN FORECLOSE APPLICATION OF GENUINE DISPUTE DOCTRINE FOR MSJ PURPOSES
California courts have adopted the Genuine Dispute Doctrine. Chateau Chamberay Homeowners Assn v. Associated Internat. Ins. Co., (2001) 90 Cal. App. 4th 335, 347, 108 Cal. Rptr. 2d 776 (“[A]n insurer denying or delaying the payment of policy benefits due to the...