News// August 2018

Insurance Companies are Allowed to Defend Themselves Under the Law

Dayton, Ohio,

Freund, Freeze & Arnold attorneys Gordon Arnold and Mark Engling secured summary judgment in a civil litigation case involving alleged insurance bad faith and breach of contract. Because the insurance company properly denied coverage based on the unambiguous contract language, Ohio contract law precluded recovery by the insured for the alleged breach of contract. The Butler County Common Pleas Court also held the insurance adjuster’s mistaken representation of coverage existing before reading the contract did not amount to bad faith because the insurance company “rightfully denied” the claim and the insured failed to demonstrate the insurer’s original “acceptance” of the claim was “anything other than a mistake.”

The judge also cited state and federal law emphasizing the burden of the party opposing summary judgment to specifically point to facts in the record as compared to the court’s responsibility to consider only the facts presented to it: “Judges are not like pigs, hunting for truffles in the record.”

About Freund, Freeze & Arnold

Freund, Freeze & Arnold, a full-service and leading defense litigation firm, serves its clients with 29 attorneys in three Ohio offices: Dayton, Columbus, and Cincinnati. Founded in 1984, it ranks among the Best Law Firms as identified by Best Lawyers and U.S. News. Freund, Freeze & Arnold serves a growing, loyal base of clients with innovative thinking and in-depth understanding of complex legal issues.