Plaintiff's Demand Package and Preexisting Medical Condition Lead Court to Side with Insurer

Newhouse v. Geico Cas. Co., 4:17-cv-00477 (M.D. Pa. 2018)

In this breach of contract/bad faith action, the Middle District of Pennsylvania considered whether to grant the insurer’s motion for summary judgment with respect to the plaintiff’s bad faith claim. The court considered that prior to suit, the plaintiff had demanded the policy limits of $200,000 to settle her UIM claim, and the insurer had offered $10,000. The plaintiff argued that the insurer had made a low-ball offer to settle with no reasonable relationship to her actual losses. The court disagreed and granted the insurer’s motion for summary judgment. It considered that the plaintiff’s demand package indicated that the plaintiff “might” require surgery at some point in the future. It did not, however, estimate the cost of such surgery, and the plaintiff’s medical bills totaled less than $15,000, of which $5,000 were covered by the plaintiff’s first party medical benefits. The court also considered that two doctors, including the plaintiff’s own expert, believed that a preexisting medical condition was contributing to the plaintiff’s current medical issues and that the insurer was not precluded from considering these doctors’ opinions regarding alternate causation. 

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