Amica Mut. Ins. Co. v. Das, No. 18-1613, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 206787, at *7 (E.D. Pa. Dec. 6, 2018)

Plaintiff must describe “who, what, where, when and how” alleged bad faith conduct under Pa.R.C.P. § 8371 occurred to avoid dismissal.

In this declaratory judgment action, the carrier filed a motion to dismiss a § 8371 bad faith counterclaim based on the defendant’s failure to plead it with specificity. The court granted the motion and dismissed the claim for a failure to set forth “who, what, where, when and how” the alleged bad faith conduct occurred. Plaintiffs will often make boilerplate statements that a carrier’s decision was “unfair” or otherwise unreasonable without adducing evidence of (1) specific procedures and (2) how they were deficient. It is important to attack these § 8371 bad faith deficiencies at the pleading stage, as opposed to the summary judgment stage, where courts are more likely to find an issue of material fact.

 

Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, January 2019

Case Law Alerts is prepared by Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin to provide information on recent developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. Copyright © 2019 Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, all rights reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm.