In a third-party bad faith case in 2022, the Rhode Island Supreme Court apparently extended the "fairly debatable" standard of liability to third-party bad faith cases, albeit in seeming dicta in that case. See Shannahan v. R.I. Interlocal Risk Mgmt. Trust, 269 A.2d 737, 740-41 (R.I. 2022).
The Supreme Court previously announced the "fairly debatable" standard of liability in a first-party bad faith case 20 years ago, in Skaling v. Aetna Ins. Co., 799 A.2d 997, 1004-07, 1010 (R.I. 2002).
By "standard of liability" for insurer bad faith the Rhode Island Supreme Court means to include "fairly debatable" in the context of a cause of action and not simply as an insurer's defense.
Please read the disclaimer. ©2022 Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved.
Comments