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Token Offers By UIM Insurer Do Not Constitute Unfair Claims Settlement Practice

By Bill Lipscomb

In Elliott v. Am. States Ins. Co. 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 3952 (4th Cir. 2/20/2018), the 4th Circuit held that a UIM insurer, in a claim where the tortfeasor’s liability coverage had already been paid, did not violate paragraphs (f), (g) and (h) of N.C.G.S. § 58-63-15 (11) by declining to make an offer until after its insured filed a lawsuit against the tortfeasor and then making only “token offers” before the arbitration hearing (which resulted in an arbitration award close to the UIM limit), because the UIM carrier’s liability is derivative of the tortfeasor’s liability and is not determined until the tortfeasor’s liability for damages has been determined.

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