The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has found an interplay between an Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act, on the one hand, and a Consumer Protection Statute, on the other. In Massachusetts, a violation of Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 176D or the equivalent of an Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act, is in law the same thing as an "unfair or deceptive act or practice" as that term figures in claims made under a Consumer Protection Statute, Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 93A.[1] As the Court has held:
Recovery under G.L. c. 93A for a violation of G. L. c. 176D, § 3 (9), is unlikely when "[a]n insurance company ... in good faith denies a claim of coverage on the basis of a plausible interpretation of its insurance policy."[2]
[1] McGilloway v. Safety Ins. Co., 468 Mass. 610, 618, 174 N.E.3d 1191, 1199 (Mass. 2021).
[2] McGilloway, 488 Mass. at 618, 174 N.E.3d at 1200. Accord, Marandino v. Utd. States Fire Ins. Co., No. 23-cv-40072-DJC, 2025 WL 902352, at *6 (D. Mass. March 25, 2025).
Case law on the issues discussed in this article is collected in Volume 1 of the Third Edition of LITIGATION AND PREVENTION OF INSURER BAD FAITH § 3:28 (Thomson Reuters West Publishing Co., with 2025 Supplements in process).
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