(USA Herald) – When a policyholder suffers a loss and makes a claim on their insurance policy, they expect their insurer to act in good faith and fairly evaluate and pay the claim. However, not all insurers live up to their obligations. In some cases, insurers may engage in bad faith conduct by denying valid claims or delaying payments without a valid reason. The recent case of Erie Insurance Exchange v. Olivia Craighead, in the Court of Appeals of Indiana, highlights the consequences of such bad faith conduct by an insurer.
In this case, Olivia Craighead, a crash victim, was injured in a car accident in 2018. She was a passenger in a car driven by Morgan Miller, who was insured by United Farm Family Mutual Insurance Co. Miller’s policy paid its liability limit of $50,000 and its medical payments coverage of $5,000 to Craighead. Craighead was also insured under her father’s auto policy with Erie Insurance that provided $100,000 in underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage and $5,000 in medical payments coverage.
