Torti v. John Hancock Life Insurance Co., No. 16-1793 (8th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed suit against defendants, alleging claims of breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, and negligence. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's motion to dismiss the breach of contract and negligence claims because plaintiff failed to plead sufficient facts to state a plausible claim for breach of contract or negligence. In this case, the language of the policy was unambiguous in describing what the parties intended their contract to be—the policy itself and the written application for the policy. Because the loan forms plaintiff relied on to support the breach of contract claim were not part of the insurance policy, the claim failed. Likewise, the negligence claim failed because it relied on the loan forms being part of the insurance contract.
Court Description: Kelly, Author, with Colloton and Gruender, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Insurance. Loan forms the trustee relied on to support a breach of contract claim against the insurer were not part of the parties' contract; nor did trustee establish that the insurer was on notice of the loan agreement and breached its duty of good faith by failing to properly administer the policy; the insurer did not have a duty to ensure that loan proceeds reached the correct recipient and, in the absence of such a duty, the trustee's negligence claim fails.
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