Following a trial to the court, Daniel Scapellati, of Halloran & Sage’s Insurance Law Group, recently obtained a verdict in favor of their insurer-client in the case Carford v. Empire Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 2012 WL 4040337 (Conn.Super.), in which the plaintiff claimed that the insurer negligently failed to tender its $1,000,000 policy limit when it was reasonable to do so. In finding for the defendant, Judge Theodore Tyma held that the defendant acted reasonably and responsibly in undertaking to investigate and evaluate the claims of the plaintiffs, Judge Tyma further held that the mere fact that the case could have been, but was not, settled within policy limits would not impose liability on the defendants, opining that in determining whether to accept or reject a settlement offer, an insurer may equally weigh its own interests with that of its insured.
For more information regarding this decision, feel free to contact either Daniel Scapellati or Jay Arcata.