Bad Faith Blog

Franklin Kropilak was badly injured when Collins made a left hand turn in front of his motorcycle. The insured was cited by a police officer just after the accident. 21st Century had the police report within in one week and within in two weeks knew that the hospital lien was $33,888. The policy for Collins provided for a liability limit of $10,000 for the crash. Thirty-seven days after the accident the insurer mailed to the attorney for the plaintiff a check for the policy limits. The plaintiff never accepted the policy limits. He did not cash the check. More than a year later in March the plaintiff proposed a settlement whereby consent judgment would be entered against Collins for $150,000 but Kropilak would agree to pursue only the insurance company for the amount in excess of her coverage. 21st Century did not agree to this proposed settlement, which the parties referred to as a Cunningham agreement.

Summary: Workmen’s Auto Insurance Company concluded it was not required to pay attorney fees because it made a timely tender before the uninsured motorist action was filed. Furthermore, the $25,000 fee award was contrary to the Oregon fee shifting statute’s policy objectives. The trial and appellate courts disagreed.

Summary: Pella Corporation, an Iowa company, was a defendant in two class action cases in Illinois. Those cases alleged that Pella’s windows were defectively designed and manufactured. Liberty Mutual filed a declaratory judgment action in Iowa federal court contending it owed no coverage. The District Court ruled that Liberty Mutual had a duty to reimburse Pella’s defense costs, but denied Pella’s bad faith denial of coverage claim. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the bad faith ruling on appeal.