Monthly Archive for September, 2020
Published on
September 24, 2020 in
PA - Bifurcate/Sever & Stays, PA - Claims Handling (unreasonable), PA - Communication with insured, PA - Coverage Issues, PA - Delay (Investigation/Claims handling), PA - Delay (Payment), PA - Discovery and Evidence, PA - Federal Pleading Adequate, PA - No coverage due, bad faith still possible, PA - Procedural Issues, PA - Settlement related issues, PA - UIM/UM Cases and PA - Work Product.
In this underinsured motorist bad faith case, Eastern District Judge DuBois denied both a motion to dismiss on ripeness grounds, and an alternative motion to server or bifurcate.
The complaint alleges the tortfeasor had $50,000 in coverage and the plaintiff/insured had $500,000 in UIM coverage. The tortfeasor agreed to settle at $47,000 and the UIM carrier consented. Plaintiffs alleged severe and permanent injuries and pursued a UIM claim.
Specifically, the insureds allege they complied with all policy terms and conditions; the insurer did not tender any UIM benefits or make any settlement offers; the insurer did not conduct any investigation into the claims; and the insurer played “cat and mouse” games by “continuously and systematically failing to communicate any offer of settlement or denial of benefits,” misleading plaintiffs as to potential settlement on at least nine occasions, and “purposefully ignoring [plaintiffs’] demand for underinsured motorist benefits.”
BAD FAITH CLAIM CAN PROCEED
First, Judge DuBois rejected the argument that the bad faith claim was not ripe until the breach of contract claim was actually decided. Among other things, the court stated: “Success on a statutory claim for bad faith does not necessarily depend on the success of the underlying breach of contract claim.” Relying on a 1996 Eastern District decision, the court quotes: “A claim for bad faith brought pursuant to § 8371 is a separate and distinct cause of action and is not contingent on the resolution of the underlying contract claim. A plaintiff may succeed on its bad faith claim even if it fails on the underlying breach of contract claim. Additionally, courts interpreting § 8371 have consistently entertained multi-count complaints containing both unresolved insurance contract disputes and bad faith claims.”
The court further relies on the unpublished Third Circuit decision, Gallatin Fuels, Inc. v. Westchester Fire Insurance Co., in reasoning that “’[a] finding that the insured did not ultimately have a duty to cover the plaintiff’s claim does not per se make the insured’s actions reasonable’ in hindsight.” Judge DuBois concludes: “Therefore, so long as the underlying contract claim is ripe, the bad faith claim is also ripe.”
After finding the claim ripe, the court finds plaintiffs can proceed on their bad faith claim. “Plaintiffs allege defendant acted in bad faith by failing to properly investigate their insurance claim, engage in settlement discussions, and communicate with them. This is ‘a separate and distinct’ cause of action from plaintiff’s claim that defendant breached the terms of the policy in failing to pay UIM benefits. … As such, a finding that defendant does not owe plaintiffs UIM benefits would not mandate a finding that defendant did not act in bad faith in handling the insurance claim.”
[Note: This opinion does not address the impact of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision in Toy v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in determining to what extend a statutory bad faith claim can proceed, if at all, when there is no duty to pay any benefits under the policy. Moreover, we have previously observed that Gallatin Fuels never addressed Toy. These issues have been discussed many times on the Blog, most recently here.
Of special note is Judge DuBois’ 2019 decision in Buck v. GEICO, which appears to emphasize, and confirm, the denial of a benefit as a predicate to statutory bad faith claims. Among other things, the Buck opinion looks to Toy as a leading authority, and not Gallatin Fuels. The Buck opinion includes language, in quotes below, stating:
“Even assuming that the bad faith denial of the benefits claimed by plaintiff was properly alleged in the Complaint, plaintiff’s argument fails because plaintiff does not allege the denial of any benefits within the meaning of the statute. ‘[B]ad faith’ as it concern[s] allegations made by an insured against his insurer ha[s] acquired a particular meaning in the law.’”
“Courts in Pennsylvania and the Third Circuit have consistently held that ‘[a] plaintiff bringing a claim under [§ 8371] must demonstrate that an insurer has acted in bad faith toward the insured through ‘any frivolous or unfounded refusal to pay proceeds of a policy.’”
The Buck plaintiff could not state a claim because “[n]one of the ‘benefits’ that defendant allegedly denied plaintiff concern the refusal to pay proceeds under an insurance policy. To the contrary, plaintiff concedes that he ‘does not allege bad faith for refusal to pay benefits.’”
Buck observes that cases have held “’section 8371 is not restricted to an insurer’s bad faith in denying a claim. An action for bad faith may also extend to the insurer’s investigative practices.’” This means, however, that bad faith claims “’need not be limited to the literal act of denying a claim.’”
Rather, “the essence of a bad faith claim must be the unreasonable and intentional (or reckless) denial of benefits.” “Thus, plaintiff must allege the denial of benefits to state a claim under § 8371.”]
In the present case, there seems to be no question that UIM coverage is provided, but only whether the plaintiff’s damages reach into the UIM coverage level or stop below $50,000. The insurer does not appear to challenge whether a plausible bad faith claim has been pleaded with adequate factual allegations, but only that the bad faith claim should not be allowed to proceed because it is not ripe. The court concludes that the UIM bad faith claim is ripe and can proceed.
MOTION TO BIFURCATE OR SEVER DENIED
The Procedures and Standards Governing Contract and Bad Faith Claims do not Favor Bifurcation or Severance.
Judge Dubois first rejected the argument that the claims should be severed or bifurcated because they will be governed by different procedures and standards. First, the carrier incorrectly argued that the contract and loss of consortium claims go to a jury while bad faith is decided by the judge. While true in Pennsylvania state court actions, bad faith claims can go to the jury in federal court cases. Next the court rejected the notion that the jury would be confused in applying the preponderance of the evidence standard to the contract claim and clear and convincing evidence standard to the bad faith claim. Judge Dubois also rejected the argument that the facts at issue on the two claims were entirely distinct.
“For example, one of plaintiffs’ assertions in the bad faith claim is that defendant failed to conduct an adequate investigation into plaintiffs’ injuries. This requires inquiry into two facts (1) the extent of plaintiffs’ injuries, and (2) the extent of defendant’s investigation into those injuries. The breach of contract claim also requires inquiry into the extent of plaintiffs’ injuries. A separate trial on the bad faith claim would require plaintiffs to present much of the same evidence to the second jury, ‘duplicating in many respects the presentation to the first jury.’ … This would be expensive and time-consuming for all parties. Because of the factual overlap between the claims, it would be more convenient to have a single trial in this case. Accordingly, the convenience factor weighs against severance or bifurcation.”
There is no Prejudice Because the Work Product Doctrine Remains Functional.
As to prejudice, the insurer focused on protecting work product. Judge Dubois states: “On this factor, defendant contends that allowing discovery and trial for the claims to proceed simultaneously would prejudice defendant because discovery in the bad faith claim would require defendant to disclose the claim adjustor’s mental impressions, conclusions, and opinions as to the merits of the case, evidence that is not discoverable in the breach of contract case. … To the extent that the claim adjustor’s work product is protected, defendant’s argument is unconvincing.”
Judge Dubois joins the vast majority of opinions finding the attorney client privilege and work product doctrine do not fall by the wayside simply because an insured brings a bad faith claim: “The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and longstanding judicial precedent protect work product from disclosure—protections that do not disappear merely because work product prepared in anticipation of litigation over one claim may also be relevant to a second claim. Allowing the claims to proceed simultaneously simply means [defendant] will be called upon to prove its entitlement to work product protection….”
Judicial Economy Favors a Single Action
As to judicial economy:
“Defendant’s argument as to this factor is that, should plaintiffs fail on their breach of contract claim, the bad faith claim will be moot. As explained above, that is an incorrect statement of the law. Plaintiffs’ bad faith claim is based, in part, on defendant’s failure to investigate plaintiff’s insurance claims and communicate with plaintiffs regarding their claims. ‘A finding that the [insurer] did not ultimately have a duty to cover the plaintiff’s claim does not per se make the [insurer’s] actions reasonable’ in hindsight. Gallatin Fuels, Inc., 244 F. App’x at 434-35. Whether defendant ultimately owes plaintiff benefits under the policy is distinct from whether defendant appropriately handled the claims.” [See Note above re Toy v. Metropolitan and Buck v. GEICO.]
“To the contrary, a single trial promotes judicial economy because it avoids duplication of effort by the parties across multiple trials. Although the contractual and bad faith claims present distinct legal issues, the underlying facts overlap. Therefore, “[b]ifurcation would essentially double the life of this action requiring a second discovery period, more dispositive motions, more pretrial motions, and a completely separate trial,” much of which would concern the same factual basis. … Accordingly, the judicial economy factor weighs against severance or bifurcation.”
Date of Decision: September 11, 2020
Dunleavy v. Encompass Home & Auto Insurance Company, U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania No. CV 20-1030, 2020 WL 5501200 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 11, 2020) (DuBois, J.)
We do not often see Pennsylvania’s state courts addressing “conclusory” allegations in bad faith cases. In this case, the Superior Court makes clear that conclusory assertions cannot forestall summary judgment on a bad faith claim.
The employee plaintiffs/insureds demanded underinsured motorist coverage under the employer’s policy. They asserted that there were $1,000,000 in UIM limits. The carrier countered that the employer had selected and signed off on a $35,000 UIM coverage limit, and the insurer ultimately paid the $35,000. The trial court agreed with the carrier on the facts of record that coverage was only $35,000, and granted summary judgment on the breach of contract claim. The Superior Court affirmed, finding the employer’s UIM sign-down enforceable and effective.
As to the bad faith claim, the trial court found “there can be no dispute that [the insurer] had a reasonable basis for denying the … claim for coverage beyond $35,000, as we have already determined the trial court did not err in concluding that the UIM policy limit was $35,000.” The panel then looked at the bad faith claim based upon the insurer’s timeliness in dealing with the claim. This appears to be an argument there was a bad faith delay in paying the $35,000 admittedly due.
The insureds argued the insurer failed “to promptly offer any payment,” engaged “in dilatory and abusive claims handling,” acted “unreasonably and unfairly by withholding underinsured motorists benefits justly due and owing,” subordinated “the interests of its insured and those entitled under its insured’s coverage to its own financial monetary interest,” and caused the insured to spend money in bringing their claims.
The Superior Court again affirmed the trial court’s granting the insurer summary judgment, favorably citing the trial court’s reasoning.
First, the trial court rejected the insureds’ Nanty-Glo argument. Further, the insureds “provided no evidence to support their Bad Faith claim beyond conclusory assertions.” The record showed the insureds made a $900,000 demand on what the insurer (correctly) believed was a $35,000 policy. The record also revealed the insurer was attempting to get information from the insureds to resolve the claim, and that the carrier tendered the $35,000 limit multiple times, which offers were refused or ignored.
The Superior Court favorably quoted the trial court on how to address conclusory bad faith allegations in responding to a summary judgment motion. The trial court had relied on Pennsylvania Supreme Court precedent in reaching its conclusion:
“Allowing non-moving parties to avoid summary judgment where they have no evidence to support an issue on which they bear the burden of proof runs contrary to the spirit of [Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure] 1035. We have stated that the mission of the summary judgment procedure is to pierce the pleadings and to assess the proof in order to see whether there is a genuine need for a trial. We have a summary judgment rule in this Commonwealth in order to dispense with a trial of a case (or, in some matters, issues in a case) where the party lacks the beginnings of evidence to establish or contest a material issue…. Forcing parties to go to trial on a meritless claim under the guise of effectuating the summary judgment rule is a perversion of that rule. [Emphasis added]
…
Thus, we hold that a non-moving party must adduce sufficient evidence on an issue essential to his case and on which he bears the burden of proof such that a jury could return a verdict in his favor.”
In this case, the Superior Court found that plaintiffs’ “lacked ‘the beginnings of evidence’ concerning how [the insurer] engaged in dilatory and abusive claims handling, and subordinated the interests of its insured and those entitled under its insured’s coverage to its own financial monetary interest.” The insureds failed to adduce sufficient evidence of record concerning delays, or evidence that any delay in tendering settlement was unreasonable or done with knowing or reckless disregard that the delay was unreasonable.
The underlying dispute over whether coverage was $1,000,000 or $35,000, and the insureds insistence on pursuing large six figure demands, contributed to the circumstances of any delays.
Date of Decision: September 11, 2020
Beach v. The Navigators Insurance Company, Superior Court of Pennsylvania No. 1550 MDA 2019, 2020 WL 5494530 (Pa. Super. Ct. Sept. 11, 2020) (Musmanno, Panella, Stabile, JJ.)
The UIM plaintiff brought breach of contract and statutory bad faith claims. The insurer moved to dismiss the bad faith claim.
The complaint sets out 28 paragraphs with factual allegations. In his decision, Magistrate Judge Carlson recites 15 of those paragraphs verbatim, along with one lengthy paragraph including a litany of conclusory bad faith allegations.
In addressing the motion on the merits, Magistrate Judge Carlson describes the means to measure the adequacy of a complaint’s factual allegations in determining whether a plaintiff makes out a plausible claim:
In practice, consideration of the legal sufficiency of a complaint entails a three-step analysis: “First, the court must ‘tak[e] note of the elements a plaintiff must plead to state a claim.’ … Second, the court should identify allegations that, ‘because they are no more than conclusions, are not entitled to the assumption of truth.’ … Finally, ‘where there are well-pleaded factual allegations, a court should assume their veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise to an entitlement for relief.’”
Assessing the complaint requires examining “the specificity of the pleadings and calls for recital of specific factual allegations from which bad faith may be inferred in order to defeat a motion to dismiss.” “Where a complaint’s § 8371 bad faith claim simply relies upon breach of contract allegations, coupled with a conclusory assertion that the failure to pay under an insurance policy was ‘unreasonable’ or made in bad faith, courts have dismissed such claims, but typically have afforded litigants an opportunity to further amend and articulate their bad faith claims.” On the other hand, “when a complaint couples general allegations of bad faith with well-pleaded assertions of unreasonable delay, unreasonable claims processing, and failures to communicate, a complaint adequately states a claim under § 8371 and is not subject to dismissal on the pleadings alone.”
In this “somewhat close case,” while one paragraph simply included a litany of conclusory bad faith allegations, “the complaint, taken as a whole, goes beyond a mere boilerplate recital of the elements of the statute.” It provides a chronology detailing the insurer’s alleged “failure to honor this underinsured motorist claim….”
“First, the plaintiff alleges that: “On countless occasions since Plaintiff[’]s underinsured motorist claim has been established, Plaintiff provided … medical records and reports concerning her injuries, condition, treatment, prognosis and recommended treatment plan.” “According to [the insured], this ‘documentation provided to [the insurer] clearly establishes Plaintiff continues to suffer from severe injuries, including but not limited to, complex regional pain syndrome.’”
The insured describes “months of indifference, delay, and failure to investigate … stating that: On June 27, 2019, a formal written demand for available policy limit was mailed to [the insurer]. On July 18, 2019, a [carrier] representative … confirmed via telephone he had received the aforementioned demand package. On September 6, 2019, [that representative] admitted he had not reviewed the demand package, but would make a formal settlement offer by September 17, 2019. On November 5, 2019, [plaintiff’s counsel] provided [that representative] with notice of our arbitrator (as is customary with automobile insurance policies in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania) and requested [the insurer] provide notice of their arbitrator. [Plaintiff’s counsel] followed-up via certified letter dated November 12, 2019 which was received by [the insurer] on November 18, 2019.”
The insured adds “this course of conduct continued for many months, until February of 2020 when [the insurer] made an offer which … ‘does not fairly compensate Plaintiff for the injuries she has sustained’ and ‘has forced her to file litigation pursuant to the policy, in an effort to further delay payment of underinsured motorist benefits under the policy to which Plaintiff is rightly owed.’”
Magistrate Judge Carlson concludes, “these averments, while spare, go beyond the type of mere boilerplate allegations that courts have found to be too conclusory to sustain a bad faith claim.” “Moreover, fairly construed, the complaint alleges failures … to communicate and timely investigate this claim, coupled with allegations of unreasonable delay in claims processing and payment…. Such allegations as a matter of law are sufficient to state a bad faith claim under Pennsylvania law.”
Dates of Decision: July 27, 2020 (Report and Recommendation) and September 11, 2020 (Order adopting Report and Recommendation)
Yohn v. Selective Insurance Co. of America, U.S. District Court Middle District of Pennsylvania Civil No. 3:20-CV-565, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133635 (M.D. Pa. July 27, 2020) (Carlson, M.J.) (Report and Recommendation), and District Court Order adopting Report and Recommendation (Sept. 11, 2020) (Mariani, J.)
The insured successfully defeated a summary judgment motion on the issue of coverage, but lost on bad faith.
The policy excluded coverage for burst radiator pipes unless the insured took reasonable steps to maintain heat at the property to avoid the problem. Here, the 76-year old insured temporarily moved from his home so family could take care of him after double knee surgery. The record showed a detailed history of the insured’s considerable efforts to maintain heating in his absence, and a somewhat unpredictable set of circumstances leading to the local utility turning off his heat for a short time, which unfortunately led to burst pipes and flood damage in the home.
The record showed a jury could find the insured had taken reasonable steps to maintain the heat, and denied the insurer’s summary judgment motion seeking a ruling that no coverage was due. Thus, the breach of contract claim proceeded.
However, the court did grant the insurer’s motion on bad faith under the fairly debatable standard.
The court first observed New Jersey recognizes two forms of bad faith, either in denying or processing claims. As to the latter, processing focuses on delay in claim handling.
These two types of bad faith claims are subject to “’essentially the same’ test under New Jersey law, namely, the ‘fairly debatable’ standard.” “A bad faith denial claim succeeds when ‘no debatable reasons existed for denial of the benefits.’” “For a processing claim, bad faith is established when there is ‘no valid reason to delay and the insurance company knew or recklessly disregarded the fact that no valid reasons supported the delay.’” Merely mishandling a claim, however, is insufficient; rather there must be “knowledge that no reason [for denying the claim] existed’”.
In this case, the insured first argued bad faith denial. The court rejected that claim, observing:
“The policy at issue specifically precludes coverage for damage resulting from frozen pipes unless the insured maintained heat or shut off the water. Plaintiff admits to not shutting off the water. Moreover, the interruption of gas service to the house did result in heat not being maintained. Plaintiff left his house unattended for over a year, with no one checking in on the property, and the gas bills did show no gas usage, even though the bills also charged Plaintiff every month. Thus, while the question of reasonable care will be submitted to the jury, a reasonable factfinder could only find on this record that coverage was, indeed, fairly debatable.”
On the delay in processing theory, “Plaintiff claims that Defendants impermissibly focused on ‘the result’ rather than the ‘reasonable care’ exercised to ensure the house was heated. … However, bad faith process claims are typically grounded in an excessive delay, not the nature of the process itself … and it is undisputed that Defendants promptly responded to and investigated the claim. Indeed, the record shows that an investigation took place within days of the loss, and a final determination was issued exactly one month after the discovery of the loss.”
Date of Decision: September 2, 2020
Titley v. Hanover Insurance Company, U.S. District Court District of New Jersey No. 1:18-CV-13388 (RMB), 2020 WL 5229387 (D.N.J. Sept. 2, 2020) (Bumb, J.)
A pro se plaintiff brought a barrage of claims against its commercial general liability insurer, among others. He alleges water damage to the insured’s work on a retaining wall the insured was engaged to build. However, there was no third party claim for damages against the insured relating to water damaged wall. The insurer denied the claim, i.e., a claim for damages to a wall built for a third party on which the third party asserted no claim.
First, the court found there was no breach of contract, and dismissed a number of counts on those grounds. However, dismissal was without prejudice and plaintiff could amend if it he could plead specific facts showing a breach.
Next, the court dismissed counts alleging violations of New Jersey’s Unfair Claim Settlement Practices Act (UCSPA). The court stated the “UCSPA does not apply to general liability and property insurance.” Thus, “[b]ecause the Policy is a general liability policy … and not a life or health insurance policy or annuity, the UCSPA Counts … are dismissed without prejudice.” The court specifically declined to address the argument that there is no UCSPA private right of action, saying the law was unclear on that point. The court gave leave to amend, but the plaintiff “must provide additional factual allegations detailing how the Policy falls under the UCSPA.”
Third, plaintiff asserted bad faith claims based upon an inadequate investigation. The court recited New Jersey’s bad faith standards:
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“To state a claim for bad faith denial of insurance coverage, Plaintiff must show: (1) the insurer lacked a reasonable basis for its denying benefits, and (2) the insurer knew or recklessly disregarded the lack of a reasonable basis for denying the claim.”
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Bad faith claims should be “analyzed in light of a ‘fairly debatable’ standard, which posits that ‘[i]f a claim is “fairly debatable,” no liability in tort will arise.’”
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“[T]o establish a first-party bad faith claim for denial of benefits in New Jersey, a plaintiff must show ‘that no debatable reasons existed for denial of the benefits.’”
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“Thus, when the insured’s complaint presents issues of material fact as to the underlying claim, dismissal of a related bad faith claim is proper.”
The court found no bad faith claim stated because the plaintiff did not “allege that Defendants lacked a fairly debatable reason for its denial of coverage. Rather, the Policy illustrates that Defendants did possess a reasonable basis for its denying benefits.” Again, however, the bad faith claims were dismissed without prejudice, with leave to amend given, but only if the plaintiff can provide “additional factual allegations detailing how Defendants lacked a reasonable basis for denying Plaintiff’s insurance claim.”
Lastly, plaintiff alleged fraudulent misrepresentation in the policy’s sale to plaintiff, concerning the scope of coverage. Again, the court dismissed without prejudice, but would only consider amendment proper the plaintiff could plead actual facts supporting a fraud claim.
Date of Decision: August 31, 2020
Gage v. Preferred Contractors Ins. Co., U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey No. 19-cv-20396 MAS ZNQ, 2020 WL 5107351 (D.N.J. Aug. 31, 2020) (Shipp, J.)
In Lopez v. Selective Insurance Company of South Carolina, Eastern District Judge Schiller dismissed plaintiff’s bad faith claim, without prejudice, for only pleading conclusory allegations. Our summary of this June 2020 decision can be found here.
Plaintiff took the opportunity to file an amended complaint, and the carrier again moved to dismiss the bad faith claim. This time around, however, plaintiff defeated the motion to dismiss by alleging specific facts.
Judge Schiller relied on earlier case law for the principle that bad faith claims can stand if the “plaintiff’s factual allegations regarding the insurer’s intent, along with the chronology of events, support[] the inference that the defendant had no reasonable basis for denying the claim and knew or recklessly disregarded that lack of reasonable basis in denying the claim.”
In Lopez, plaintiff alleged the insured suffered a covered property loss and provided timely notice. The loss arose from a heating failure on the property.
Addressing the coverage issue, the complaint avers that under the controlling policy language, the insured only had to take reasonable steps to maintain heat on the property. The insured did so, but the heating system failed despite those reasonable steps.
The complaint further alleges the carrier initially took the position that it would cover a portion of the loss. Moreover, the carrier’s representative confirmed that the insured had taken reasonable steps to maintain heat at the property. Once the carrier realized the size of the loss, however, the complaint alleges the insurer retreated from its original position that a portion of the loss was covered.
Judge Schiller found the specific facts pleaded “would suggest” the carrier both “lacked a reasonable basis for denying the claim; and … knew or recklessly disregarded its lack of a reasonable basis for denying the claim.”The complaint “contains specific factual allegations regarding … intent, and it identifies what actions [the insurer] took that were unreasonable.”
More specifically, “[t]he allegation that Defendant acted in bad faith ‘by unreasonably claiming that heat was not maintained when the policy does not require that heat be maintained, but simply that reasonable steps to maintain heat be taken, all with the intent to deceive Plaintiff about what the policy requires and deny coverage’ is not conclusory.” Likewise, the allegation that the insurer accepted coverage and agreed to pay a portion of the loss, only changing its position when discovering the loss’s magnitude, is not conclusory. It was also significant that the insurer’s representative allegedly conceded that the insured took reasonable steps to maintain the heat.
Thus, “[t]hese specific allegations allow the Court to infer what [the insurer] did, why it was unreasonable, and how [the insurer] knew or should have known it was unreasonable.” [Judge Schiller’s emphases] In sum, “[b]y accepting these allegations as true, the Court can reasonably infer that [the insurer] knew Plaintiff’s claim was covered under the policy, indicated the claim would be covered, and then, once all of the damage was assessed, denied the claim because it was too expensive. Thus, Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint is well pleaded and survives a motion to dismiss.”
Date of Decision: August 31, 2020
Lopez v. Selective Insurance Co. of South Carolina, U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania No. CV 20-1260, 2020 WL 5121281 (E.D. Pa. Aug. 31, 2020) (Schiller, J.)
