Wilkinson v. G. Bass Co.

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• stating that an insured suing for bad faith breach of an insurance contract is entitled to recover compensatory damages for emotional distress
• describing that in bilateral contracts, a breach of the covenant “will only result in damages for breach of contract and will not give rise to tort liability.”
• recognizing that, “[d]ue to the ‘special nature of the insurance contract and the relationship which exists between the insurer and the insured,’ an insurer’s breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing gives rise to a separate cause of action arising in tort”
• explaining that recovery on a common law bad faith claim is “based on traditional tort principles” and the plaintiff must establish its damages by a preponderance of the evidence
• explaining that insurance contracts are unique, in that “an insurer’s breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing gives rise to a separate cause of action arising in tort”
• explaining, in context of common law bad faith claim, that there is no quasi-fiduciary duty with respect to first-party claims and that first-party claimant must therefore \prove that the insurer either knowingly or recklessly disregarded the validity of the insured's claim\

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).