Following the Pennsylvania Superior Court determination that “regular use exclusions” in UM/UIM policies violated the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law (MVFRL) in 2021, and in light of the post-Gallagher decisions,...more
While it is well known that an insured has a clear and convincing standard of proving bad faith in order to recover such damages, it is lesser recognized that an insured does not have to prove outrageous conduct or evil...more
In Erie Insurance Exchange v. Mione, ---A.3d--- 2023 WL 2008314 (Pa. Feb. 15, 2023), the insured was involved in an accident while operating his motorcycle, which was insured by a Progressive Insurance policy, wherein he...more
On February 15, 2023, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that household vehicle exclusions were “valid and enforceable,” and may be relied upon by auto insurers to exclude UM/UIM coverage in certain contexts. In Erie...more
On October 18, 2022, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania granted allowance of appeal in Kramer v. Nationwide Property and Casualty Insurance Co. regarding the issue of whether the Superior Court erred by finding that “emotional...more
If you were to look for a quick answer regarding whether a commercial general liability (CGL) policy covers damage resulting from faulty workmanship under Pennsylvania law, you’d likely come out believing the answer is...more
Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania (“SHIP”) was placed in rehabilitation in Pennsylvania in January 2020. On August 24, 2021, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania approved the Rehabilitation Plan (the “Plan”),...more
On August 25, 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court split 3-3, with one Justice recused, on an appeal from a trial court’s insurance bad faith decision imposing $18 million in punitive damages and $3 million in attorney’s fees...more
In the wake of government quarantine/shut down orders being executed in response to the pandemic, a flurry of bills were introduced in several states to retroactively create—by government fiat—business interruption insurance...more
In an exception to the COVID-19-related news that has dominated recent headlines, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of an insured contending that its insurance carrier must provide defense and potential...more
As COVID-19 coverage lawsuits continue to be filed across the country, there have been some significant pro-insurer developments over the past few weeks that are worth noting. The Louisiana State Senate has shelved the...more
On May 14, 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied a Pittsburgh-based restaurant’s Emergency Application asking it to exercise its statutory and “King’s Bench” powers and assume plenary jurisdiction over the restaurant’s...more
On Wednesday, April 29, 2020, a Pittsburgh-based restaurant filed an Emergency Application in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court asking it to invoke its “King’s Bench” and statutory powers to assume extraordinary jurisdiction of...more
In a recent appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court examined the enforceability of a commonly used automobile policy provision related to Independent Medical...more
White and Williams, on behalf of various industry groups, including the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, filed an amicus brief on November 14th urging the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to reconsider its...more
Welcome to CICR’s annual review of insurance cases. Here, we spotlight five (actually, seven) decisions from the last year that you should know about, and five pending cases—all before state high courts—to keep an eye on. The...more
How does an insured prove that an insurer acted in bad faith? Although the issue has been well settled since the Superior Court decided Terletsky v. Prudential Property & Casualty Insurance Co. in 1994, there has been much...more
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has, for the first time in the 37-year history of Pennsylvania’s bad faith insurance statute, 42 Pa.C.S. § 8371, considered the necessary elements of such a claim, and it has determined that...more
In its recent decision in Rancosky v. Washington National Insurance Company, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court examined, for the first time, Pennsylvania’s standard for insurance bad faith. The court held that, while an...more
For the first time, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the highest court in the state, enunciated the elements of a bad faith insurance claim brought pursuant to Pennsylvania’s bad faith statute, 42 Pa.C.S. § 8371. The decision...more
In an opinion dated September 28, 2017, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Western District, considered as an issue of first impression the level of proof required to prevail in a bad faith claim, examining the elements of a bad...more
In a much anticipated decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court cemented and clarified the test for bad faith set out in the 1994 Superior Court decision Terletsky v. Prudential—that an insurer’s bad faith is established by...more
Policyholders asserting an insurance bad faith claim need not show a dishonest purpose or motive of self-interest or ill will to prove their claim against insurers under Pennsylvania’s insurance bad faith statute, 42 Pa....more
For more than a decade, medical providers have tried to limit the discretion of automobile insurers to pay less than the billed amount for services and equipment offered to injured insureds. Most of these efforts involve...more
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently ruled against insurers on an insurance coverage issue that frequently arises in the oil and gas sector. In Mutual Benefit Insurance Company v. Politsopoulos, the Supreme Court held that...more