The Insurer issued an Auto Policy and an Umbrella Policy. The Auto Policy provided $100,000 of UIM coverage and the Umbrella Policy provided $2,000,000 of UIM coverage. Just like ARS § 12-555(C)(2),the Auto Policy barred UIM...more
Is an insured legally entitled to recover the incurred amount of medical expenses or a reasonable amount of medical expenses?
This issue often arises in first-party bad faith cases arising from uninsured motorist (“UM”) and...more
Plaintiffs often allege an insurer breached the duty of good faith and fair dealing by conducting an unreasonable and/or an inadequate investigation. But, Arizona courts have held for over 30 years that an insurer’s...more
The Holding -
In Chattanooga Prof’l Baseball LLC, v. Nat’l Cas. Co., 2020 WL 6699480 (D. Ariz. Nov. 13, 2020) (Order), the Arizona District Court held that a “Virus Exclusion” clearly precluded insurance coverage for losses...more
12/7/2020
/ Baseball ,
Breach of Contract ,
Business Losses ,
Casualty Insurance ,
Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Estoppel ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Property Insurance
The Holding -
In Jimenez v. Progressive Preferred Ins. Co., 2020 WL 2037113 (D. Ariz. Apr. 28, 2020), a putative breach of contract and insurance bad faith class action arising from a MedPay claim, the Arizona District...more
10/22/2020
/ Auto Insurance ,
Bad Faith ,
Bodily Injury ,
Breach of Contract ,
Car Accident ,
Class Action ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Medical Expenses ,
Medical Necessity ,
MedPay ,
Reasonableness Factors
Insurance attorney Nate Meyer discusses the importance of an insurer selecting the right appraiser....more
When the insured and insurer disagree on the amount of a particular loss, an appraiser can help settle the matter. Partner and insurance attorney Nate Meyer explains an appraiser's role in this video. ...more
The Holding -
In Centeno v. American Liberty Ins. Co., 2019 WL 568926 (D. Ariz. Feb. 12, 2019) (Order), an insurance bad faith case arising from a workers’ compensation claim, the Arizona District Court granted a motion to...more
2/26/2019
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Appeals ,
Bad Faith ,
Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Dismissals ,
Insurance Contracts ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Privity of Contract ,
TPAs ,
Workers' Compensation Claim
The Holding -
In Doneson v. Farmers Ins. Exch., 2018 WL 4781382 (Ariz.App. Oct. 3, 2018), an insurance bad faith case, the Arizona Court of Appeals upheld an exclusion precluding MedPay benefits “if workers’ compensation...more
11/29/2018
/ Appeals ,
Bad Faith ,
Breach of Contract ,
Declaratory Relief ,
Insurance Litigation ,
MedPay ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Parole Evidence ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Policy Terms ,
Reaffirmation ,
Tortious Interference ,
Workers' Compensation Claim
The Holding -
In Farmers Ins. Exchange v. The Honorable David Udall, 2018 WL 2931906 (June 12, 2018), the Arizona Court of Appeals accepted special action jurisdiction to hold that Insureds validly assigned post-loss...more
8/9/2018
/ Anti-Assignment Clauses ,
Appeals ,
Assignees ,
Assignment of Benefits (AOB) ,
Assignments ,
Breach of Contract ,
Consent ,
Contractors ,
Homeowner's Insurance ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Jurisdiction ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Policy Terms ,
Post-Loss Claims ,
Remediation ,
Water Damage
The Holding -
In Hanfelder v. Geico Indem. Co., WL 2018 WL 2315949 (May 22, 2018), the Arizona Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment granted to an Insurer because the Policy’s “imprecise” anti-stacking language did...more
6/11/2018
/ Affiliates ,
Anti-Stacking Provisions ,
Appeals ,
Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Contract Drafting ,
Declaratory Rulings ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Policy Terms ,
Reversal ,
Summary Judgment ,
Uninsured and Under-Insured Motorists
The Holding -
In Knightbrook Insurance Company v. Payless Car Rental System Incorporated, 2018 WL 769295 (Ariz. February 8, 2018), an insurance bad faith and equitable indemnification case arising from an auto claim, the...more
3/14/2018
/ Appeals ,
AZ Supreme Court ,
Bad Faith ,
Duty to Indemnify ,
Duty to Pay ,
Equitable Indemnity ,
Indemnification ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Restitution ,
Third-Party Liability
The Award -
In McClure v. CC Services Inc. & Country Life Insurance Company dba Country Life Financial, an Arizona insurance bad faith case arising from a disability claim, a jury awarded $1.29 million in compensatory...more
Although the Arizona Court of Appeals resolved this issue 20 years ago, I frequently see insureds' counsel argue that an insurer must pay the "undisputed amount" of a UM or UIM claim—and I just saw this argument last week—so...more
The Holding -
In Hoarau v. Safeco Ins. Co. of America, 2017 WL 3328078 (D.Ariz. August 4, 2017), the Arizona District Court denied an insured's Motion to Remand in an insurance bad faith, punitive damages, and declaratory...more
11/29/2017
/ Amount in Controversy ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Bad Faith ,
Compensatory Damages ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
Diversity Jurisdiction ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Landlords ,
Motion to Remand ,
Property Damage ,
Punitive Damages ,
Tenants
In Chukly v. American Family Mut. Ins. Co., 2017 WL 3262541 (D.Ariz. Aug. 1, 2017) (Order), a breach of contract and insurance bad faith case arising from a homeowners claim after a microburst and “massive rain,” the Arizona...more
11/10/2017
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Bad Faith ,
Breach of Contract ,
Claims Adjusters ,
Fraudulent Joinder ,
Homeowner's Insurance ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Industry ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Motion to Remand ,
Policy Terms ,
Property Damage
The Holding -
In Preciado v.Young American Insurnace Company, 2017 WL 2805631 ( Ariz.App . June 29, 2017) (unpublished), the Arizona Court of Appeals held the trial court erroneously failed to grant an Insurer’s motion for...more
11/1/2017
/ Abuse of Discretion ,
Appeals ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Auto Insurance ,
Bad Faith ,
Breach of Contract ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Motion for JMOL ,
Prevailing Party ,
Property Theft ,
Property Valuation ,
Punitive Damages ,
Reaffirmation ,
Reversal ,
Reversible Error
In State Farm v. Lee, 199 Ariz. 52, 13 P.3d 1169 (2000) (En Banc), the Arizona Supreme Court first held that an Insurer can impliedly waive the attorney-client privilege (the “Privilege”) in a bad faith case, despite not...more
Because Arizona cases touching on this issue are copious, confusing, and complex, we note the following guidelines—though sometimes conflicting—have emerged from Lee and its progeny and will assist an Insurer’s analysis of...more
Although Arizona law regarding the implied waiver of the attorney-client privilege (the “Privilege”) is far from certain, an Insurer may avoid a waiver by following these tips...more
In Sobieski v. Am. Standard Ins. Co. of Wisconsin, 2016 WL 5436588 (Ariz.App. Sept. 29, 2016), despite upholding a bad faith judgment for an insurer conducting an unreasonable investigation and denying a claim, the Arizona...more
10/21/2016
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Auto Insurance ,
Bad Faith ,
Breach of Contract ,
Business Profits ,
Comparative Negligence ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Insurance Adjusters ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Judgment As A Matter Of Law ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Motion for Judgment ,
Motorcycle Accidents ,
Punitive Damages ,
Reversal ,
Uninsured and Under-Insured Motorists
In Arellano v. Primerica Life Insurance Company, 235 Ariz. 371, 332 P.3d 597 (App. 2014), despite finding an insurer’s conduct moderately to highly reprehensible, the Arizona Court of Appeals recently reduced a punitive...more
5/27/2015
/ Appeals ,
Bad Faith ,
Breach of Contract ,
Compensatory Damages ,
Due Process ,
Forgery ,
Fraud ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Life Insurance ,
Misrepresentation ,
Professional Negligence ,
Punitive Damages