The court denied the insurer's motion for summary judgment seeking to dismiss the insured's bad faith claim. Landmark Am. Ins. Co. v Esters, 2024 U.S Dist LEXIS 93008 (W.D. La. May 23, 2024).
The case arose out of circumstances occurring due to Hurricane Laura making landfall on August 27, 2020. Insurance Unlimited (IU) was a licensed independent insurance agency that obtained and maintained insurance coverage for customers. IU had a policy with Landmark under which it was the named insured.
The issue in a motion for summary judgment filed by Landmark was whether IU had an right to assert bad faith claims against Landmark for IU's payment to Gloria Robinson, payments to Sam's Residential, LLC, or a settlement payment to Manick Investments arising out of Landmark's alleged breach of the duty to provide coverage and defend.