Court determined that the insurance adjuster had been fraudulently joined in the case and granted the motion to dismiss all claims against the adjuster.

The plaintiff had an auto liability insurance policy with the defendant and had been involved in a motor vehicle accident, wherein the other driver had sustained serious, catastrophic personal injuries and paralysis. The plaintiff argued that the defendant failed to timely tender her available coverage to the other driver. As a result, the other driver filed suit against the plaintiff and obtained a substantial judgment. The plaintiff sued the defendant for bad faith and also filed claims against the insurance adjuster for negligent misrepresentation with respect to the investigation, handling and settlement of the underlying claim. The defendants moved to dismiss the complaint as to the adjuster on the grounds that the adjuster had been fraudulently joined in the action to defeat the court’s diversity jurisdiction. The defendants argued that the plaintiff could not assert a bad faith claim against the adjuster because Florida’s bad faith law sets forth a duty that is owed by the insurer, not a duty owed by the insurance adjuster. The plaintiff argued that she had sufficiently pled factual allegations meeting the elements for negligent misrepresentation against the adjuster. The court ruled that Florida case law has rejected negligence claims against insurance adjusters in precisely these circumstances. As a result, the plaintiff could not establish a claim against the adjuster, and the court determined that she had been fraudulently joined in the action. The defendant’s motion to dismiss all claims against the adjuster was granted.

Case Law Alerts, 4th Quarter 2013