Foster v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.

674 F.3d 663, 2012 WL 884857, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 5513
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedMarch 16, 2012
Docket11-3100
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 674 F.3d 663 (Foster v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Foster v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., 674 F.3d 663, 2012 WL 884857, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 5513 (7th Cir. 2012).

Opinion

TINDER, Circuit Judge.

This case presents two issues, both under Indiana law: First, whether the Fosters breached their insurance contract with State Farm by failing to comply with a section titled “Your Duties After Loss” and, second, whether State Farm’s delay in deciding the Fosters’ claim was in bad faith and therefore tortious. The district court granted State Farm’s motion for summary judgment. We affirm.

On January 3, 2009, while Harry and Linda Foster, their two children, Harry’s father, and the family’s eight dogs were out, a fire severely damaged the Fosters’ home. Mrs. Foster submitted a claim to State Farm under the family’s homeowners’ policy the next day. State Farm promptly began requesting documents, authorizations, and interviews. Based on its initial interviews, State Farm learned that the Fosters had at least two businesses, held numerous personal and business accounts, and were involved in multiple lawsuits.

At the end of January, State Farm sent a letter to the Fosters restating its initial requests for information and documents, including blueprints, utility bills, and receipts for electrical components in the “theater room.” State Farm wrote the Fosters again in early March to remind them of their contractual obligations, quoting the following policy provisions:

2. Your Duties After Loss. After a loss to which this insurance may apply, you shall see that the following duties are performed:
c. Prepare an inventory of damaged or stolen personal property. Show in detail the quantity, description, age, replacement cost and amount of loss. Attach to the inventory all bills, receipts and related documents that substantiate the figures in the inventory;
d. as often as we reasonably require:
(1) exhibit the damaged property;
(2) provide us with records and documents we request and permit us to make copies;
(3) submit to and subscribe, while not in the presence of any other insured:
(a) statements; and
(b) examinations under oath; and
(4) produce employees, members of the insured’s household or others for examination under oath to the *665 extent it is within the insured’s power to do so; and
e. submit to us, within 60 days after the loss, your signed, sworn proof of loss which sets forth, to the best of your knowledge and belief: [details about the cause of the loss and damaged or destroyed property]
6. Suit Against Us. No action shall be brought unless there has been compliance with the policy provisions. The action must be started within one year after the date of loss or damage.

By mid-March, State Farm’s fire investigator had concluded that the fire was intentionally set and the Fosters’ claim was referred to the insurance company’s Special Investigative Unit. State Farm informed the Fosters that “there is a question as to whether the loss is accidental as it relates to a named insured” and requested additional documents, such as detailed phone records, bank account transaction histories, tax returns, and mortgage information. State Farm also reminded the Fosters that their proof of loss was due by May 2, 2009. (By the way, all significant communications between the Fosters and State Farm that we discuss in the opinion took place between their lawyers because both the insureds and the insurer retained counsel from nearly the beginning of the claim process.)

In April, the Fosters requested a 60-day extension for filing their proof of loss. State Farm granted the extension, reminded the Fosters of its previous document requests, and encouraged the Fosters to produce documents as they got them so the claim process could move forward. A few days after the initial 60-day extension, the Fosters informed State Farm that they were hiring a new attorney and requested additional time to file their proof of loss. State Farm granted the Fosters’ request and gave them until August 5, 2009 to file. In the same letter that granted that second extension, State Farm restated its previous request for documents, added the Fosters’ 2008 taxes to its request list, and emphasized that the documents already in the Fosters’ possession should be produced “as quickly as possible” to facilitate the claim process and because there could be follow-up questions and requests.

On May 20, the Fosters sent State Farm phone bills and a signed medical release and indicated that they were trying to get other requested documents, which they said they would produce shortly. At the beginning of July, the Fosters told State Farm that they were “close to obtaining the information and documents you’ve requested in your previous letters.” The Fosters produced some additional documents in July but many remained outstanding. On August 5, the Fosters delivered close to 1,000 pages of documents, including their proof of loss.

On August 13 and 25, Mr. Foster sat for his “examination under oath” (EUO). On August 26, Mrs. Foster began her EUO. Based on statements by the Fosters during those EUOs about previously undisclosed bank accounts and business dealings, State Farm requested financial information dating back to 2002. On September 3, State Farm sent the Fosters lists of old and new document and information requests. Mrs. Foster’s EUO was continued on September 9. During that continuation of her EUO, Mrs. Foster said that she was still gathering requested documents. The next day, during her third day of questioning, Mrs. Foster told State Farm that the Fosters had actually earned more money than reported in their 2004-2007 tax returns. That day’s interview ended with the following exchange:

Counsel for State Farm: Okay. I suppose this is probably a good place to *666 stop, and we’ll adjourn. And by-agreement, Counsel, is that correct?
Counsel for Mrs. Foster: Correct.
Counsel for State Farm: And we’re going to reconvene at a later date when we gather these documents that we’ve been talking about for several days.
Counsel for Mrs. Foster: Correct.

On September 21, State Farm sent the Fosters a master-list of old and new requests. All together, State Farm was asking for fifty-nine categories of information and documents.

The Fosters sent State Farm a status report on October 1. For a majority of the requests, the Fosters said that they were either looking into them or that they had themselves already sent requests to various financial institutions for responsive documents. On December 2, State Farm sent the Fosters its own detailed status report. According to its records, State Farm had not received a majority of the requested documents or an explanation for why they could not be produced. State Farm expressed concern “about the lack of documents the Fosters have provided since the last session of Mrs. Foster’s examination under oath on September 10, 2009” and concluded the letter by referring to Mrs. Foster’s incomplete EUO: “Pursuant to our agreement, we agreed to cancel and reschedule Mrs.

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674 F.3d 663, 2012 WL 884857, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 5513, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/foster-v-state-farm-fire-casualty-co-ca7-2012.