Philadelphia, PA: A bad faith insurance class action lawsuit has been filed against The Federated Mutual Insurance Co., alleging the insurer is in breach of its contract and in violation of the Pennsylvania Bad Faith Statute.
Filed by Terry Easterday and Linda Easterday, individually and on behalf of a class of similarly situated persons, the lawsuit states that on May 3, 2010, and August 18, 2011, Terry Easterday was involved in motor vehicle collisions with underinsured drivers. Mr. Easterday was driving a vehicle insured by the defendant at the time of the accidents. After making claims and receiving payments from the other drivers' insurance companies, the plaintiffs sought underinsured coverage from the defendant, according to the complaint. The lawsuit further states that the defendant failed to pay underinsured motorist benefits to the couple, claiming the couple had waived underinsured motorist coverage under a "rejection of underinsured motorist coverage"clause.
The Easterdays allege the rejection of underinsured motorist coverage form does not specifically comply with the requirements of the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility law, and therefore Federated Mutual Insurance Co is required to pay uninsured/underinsured motorist benefits due under certain automobile policies.
The plaintiffs are seeking declaratory relief and damages, including punitive damages, costs and fees.
