JANUARY 2010 BAD FAITH CASES
NO BAD FAITH DESPITE ALLEGED MISREPRESENTATIONS BY INSURANCE AGENT (Middle District)

In Serino v. Prudential Insurance Company of America, pursuant to the disability insurance policy, the insurer stopped paying the insured’s disability benefits once the insured reached the age of sixty five. The insured sued the carrier for breach of contract and bad faith. The insured claimed that the insurance agent had orally represented that the policy entitled him to lifetime disability benefits. The court held that the plain language of the policy expressly provided the insurer with a reasonable basis for denying the insured benefits after his sixty-fifth birthday. The court granted the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.

Date of Decision: November 18, 2009

Serino v. Prudential Ins. Co. of Am., 706 F. Supp.2d 584, Case No. 3:09-CV-0466, United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114246 (M.D. Pa. November 18, 2009) (Kosik, J.).