OCTOBER 2013 BAD FAITH CASES: COURT DISMISSES BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY CLAIM AS REDUNDANT WITH, AND SUBSUMED BY, STATUTORY BAD FAITH CLAIM (Middle District)

In Heffran v. State Auto Property & Casualty Insurance Co., the insured brought a statutory  bad faith claim based on failure to pay UIM benefits, and alleged a breach of fiduciary duty by the carrier.   The court found, however, that any separate claim for breach of fiduciary duty is subsumed by the bad faith claim and any claim that plaintiff acted in bad faith by breaching its fiduciary duty is unnecessary and redundant.  The court found that the putative breach of fiduciary duty count added no more facts to the complaint that had not been pleaded in earlier counts.

Date of Decision:  August 7, 2013

Heffran v. State Auto Property & Casualty Ins. Co., No. 3:13cv513, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 110997 (M.D. Pa. Aug. 7, 2013) (Munley, J.)