Court Dismisses Bad Faith Claim Where Insurer Had Reasonable Basis for Its Valuation of UIM Claim

Debellis v. Mid-Century Ins. Co., 18-cv-0214 (W.D. Pa. 2018) 

In this breach of contract/bad faith action, the Western District Court considered whether to preclude the insurer’s bad faith expert from testifying at trial. The court considered that, while an insured is not required to prove an insurer’s alleged bad faith practices through expert testimony, such testimony is permissible if it is helpful to the trier of fact and is otherwise admissible. The court also considered that, while some courts have permitted such testimony, others courts have not and the use of such testimony appears to be controversial. Because this bad faith claim was slated to proceed to a bench trial (as opposed to a jury trial), the court found that the parties will benefit from the court’s familiarity with bad faith law and the plaintiff’s burden of proof. However, the court also found that the bad faith expert testimony may assist the court as the trier of fact, assuming the insurer’s claims handling procedures are complex. Thus, the court ruled that, while the insurer’s expert could not offer opinions that could be construed as legal conclusions, he could otherwise provide testimony. The court cautioned that the testimony would be given appropriate weight and, if the testimony appears to be nothing more than speculation unsupported by scientific or specialized knowledge, it will be disregarded by the court.
 

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