APRIL 2017 BAD FAITH CASES: CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW VIOLATIONS MAY BE EVIDENCE IN BAD FAITH CASES (Middle District)

The insured brought a consumer protection law claim for allegedly abusive claims handling practices and denial of her insurance claim. The court observed that in the insurance context, Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (UTPCPL) “applies only to conduct related to the sale of an insurance policy, not to the handling of insurance claims.” However, in a footnote, the court added that in Berg v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., Inc., 44 A.3d 1164 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2012), the Superior Court dealt with whether a UTPCPL violation is evidence of statutory bad faith under. Under that case, while the UTPCPL did “not provide for a separate cause of action for a UTPCPL violation, … such violation may constitute evidence to support a bad faith cause of action.”

Date of Decision: April 7, 2017

Machado v. Safeco Ins. Co., No. 16cv1685, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53604 (M.D. Pa. Apr. 7, 2017) (Munley, J.)