Dorfman v. Liberty Mutual Fire Ins. Co.

Citations

• 227 Conn. App. 347

Syllabus

The plaintiff sought to recover damages from the defendant, her automobile insurance provider, claiming, inter alia, that the defendant's pleading conduct in a prior action involving the parties amounted to vexatious litigation. The plaintiff had been involved in a motor vehicle collision with S, who failed to stop his vehicle at a stop sign. During its yearlong investigation of the plaintiff's claim for underinsured motorist benefits, the defendant acquired the police report regarding the collision, the plaintiff's recorded statement and the recorded statement of a witness to the collision who was not listed in the police report. The defendant's claims specialists determined that S was 100 percent liable for the collision and noted their findings in the claim file. The plaintiff com- menced the prior action against S, who was underinsured. After citing in the defendant as an additional party, the plaintiff alleged, inter alia, a breach of contract claim against the defendant for its failure to pay her underinsured motorist benefits, as well as claims for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA) (§ 42-110a et seq.) based on alleged violations of the Connecticut Unfair Insurance Prac- tices Act (CUIPA) (§ 38a-815 et seq.). Before the defendant filed an answer, the plaintiff settled her claim with S for the limit of his insurance policy and withdrew the action against him. The defendant hired attor- neys to represent it in connection with the plaintiff's action but deliber- ately withheld from them its file notes, which included the recorded statement and the identity of the witness to the collision. In the defen- dant's initial answer to the complaint, which was filed one year after the conclusion of its investigation into the plaintiff's claim, the defendant denied or stated that it did not have sufficient information to admit the plaintiff's allegations regarding the cause of t