“Insurers handling claims in Florida often feel like they are fighting an uphill battle to avoid bad faith lawsuits arising from the alleged failure of an insurer to act in good faith when settling a liability claim against the insured,” Goldberg Segalla’s Hillary N. Ladov and Christian A. Cavallo write. “This fight is even more daunting when the claims involve multiple, competing claimants seeking to recover damages against the insured in amounts in excess of the insurer’s policy limits.”

In an article for Claims Journal, Hillary and Christian, members of the firm’s Global Insurance Services practice, take an in-depth look at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit’s recent decision in Aldana v. Progressive that serves as a reminder of the obstacles that insurers can face when dealing with multiple claims against its insured. They also talk about how insurers must revisit and potentially change their settlement strategy if doing so is in the insured’s best interest.

“When faced with multiple claims against the insured arising from a single accident, the insurer’s duty of good faith also requires that it: (1) fully investigate all claims to determine how best to limit the insured’s exposure; (2) attempt to settle as many claims as possible within the policy limits; and (3) avoid indiscriminately settling claims where the insured’s excess liability might be minimized through settlement.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE:

“Viewpoint: 11th Circuit Ruling Reminds Insurers to Tread Carefully When Settling Multiple Claims,” Claims Journal, November 20, 2020

MORE ABOUT GOLDBERG SEGALLA’S HILLARY N. LADOV AND CHRISTIAN A. CAVALLO:

Hillary N. Ladov, an associate based in Philadelphia, focuses her practice on insurance coverage litigation, bad faith disputes, and coverage counseling. Hillary counsels and defends insurance industry clients in a wide range of coverage matters, including commercial general liability, homeowners’ liability, commercial and personal auto liability, pollution liability, marine liability, professional liability, and directors and officers liability. She has significant experience handling complex insurance cases in state and federal courts, and has monitored coverage and liability issues in a variety of cases. Hillary’s practice also includes defending clients in commercial litigation matters.

Chris Cavallo, a partner based in Newark, is a leader of the Global Insurance Services New Jersey team and of the firm’s Transportation Coverage team. Chris focuses his practice on representing and counseling insurers and other commercial clients in complex, high-exposure matters involving both first- and third-party insurance products, including extracontractual claims and claims arising under consumer protection statutes. Chris regularly writes and presents on emergent insurance industry topics, and he is involved in leadership roles for the firm’s GIS Webinar series and the firm’s insurance blog, The Insurance & Reinsurance Report.