Hayes v. Metropolitan Property & Casualty Insurance, No. 17-3005 (8th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseThe Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's entry of judgment for the insured in a dispute over property coverage of a building that was destroyed by fire. The court held that the district court correctly entered judgment for the insured on the bad faith claim where Met could not prove misrepresentation or deception by the insured, or any reliance thereupon by Met. The court also held that the district court properly calculated the economic damages the insured suffered as a result of Met's bad faith refusal to pay pursuant to the provisions of the improperly rescinded contract. Furthermore, the district court did not abuse its discretion in awarding reasonable attorney fees.
Court Description: Beam, Author, with Smith, Chief Judge, and Colloton, Circuit Judge] Civil case - Insurance. Plaintiff's judgment on his bad faith refusal to pay claim is affirmed; the district court did not improperly shift the burden of proof on the claim to defendant and plaintiff met his burden of proving a bad faith claim under Nebraska law - that defendant had no reasonable basis for denying the claim and did so with knowledge or with reckless disregard of that fact; the district court properly calculated the economic damages plaintiff suffered as a result of defendant's bad faith refusal to pay pursuant to the provisions of the improperly rescinded contract; award of attorney's fees affirmed. Judge Colloton, concurring in the judgment.
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