An insurance broker sought to stay the plaintiff’s negligence action asserted against it pending a determination on the claims of breach of contract and bad faith alleged against the insurer. The court denied the motion to stay, concluding that a stay of the proceedings against the insurance broker would delay discovery and the global conclusion of the pending litigation and moving forward would not prejudice the insurance broker. 

Complaints asserting contractual claims against insurers and tort claims against insurance brokers are not unique; in fact, these parallel filings are quite common and flow naturally from the denial of a claim. Facing a claim denial, plaintiffs often pursue claims against both the insurer and insurance broker, unsure whether the coverage issue arises from the procurement of the policy or the language of the policy itself. In practice, while a finding of coverage in many cases obviates a claim against the insurance broker, completing discovery as to both the insurer and insurance broker simultaneously can streamline the litigation process and enable the parties to obtain records and depositions through discovery that can affect each parties’ defenses and strategy.