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American States Insurance Company v. Joann Laflam

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Before Lynch, Chief Judge, Torruella and Selya, Circuit Judges.

On April 25, 2007, JoAnn LaFlam was badly injured in an accident in Rhode Island while driving an automobile insured under a policy issued to her employer by American States Insurance Company (ASIC). That policy, subject to certain exclusions and limitations, indemnifies its insureds from injuries caused by negligent uninsured or underinsured motorists. When it became clear that the tortfeasors were underinsured, LaFlam requested and received authorization from ASIC to settle her claims pursuant to Rhode Island’s uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) insurance statute, R.I. Gen. Laws Ann. § 27-7-2.1.

Within three months of receiving authorization to settle, LaFlam and the tortfeasors agreed to a settlement of $1 million. However, when LaFlam made a claim that ASIC pay the settlement amount under the UM/UIM policy, ASIC refused. Instead, ASIC filed a federal lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that LaFlam’s claim was too late because it did not comply with the policy requirement that a claim be made within three years after the date of the accident. LaFlam, in turn, counterclaimed that ASIC had breached the contract and that the denial of the claim was in bad faith. The district court granted ASIC’s cross-motion for judgment on the pleadings and denied LaFlam’s motion for judgment on the pleadings. See Am. States Ins. Co. v. LaFlam, No. 10-357, 2011 WL 1532144, at *4 (D.R.I. Apr. 22, 2011). LaFlam appealed.

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