Schmidt v. American Commerce Insurance Company
Oct 12, 2015OUTCOME: Defense Verdict
Rory W. Leid, III, assisted by Arezou Arefi-Afshar, represented American Commerce Insurance Company in the insurance bad faith lawsuit, Schmidt v. American Commerce Insurance Company, KCC No.: 11-2-285 ... 29-4. In November, 2011, Mr. Schmidt and Ms. Demeter made a claim to American Commerce for a total fire loss on their family home. Shortly after initiating its claim investigation, American Commerce began to uncover what eventually turned out to be evidence of fraud and arson by Mr. Schmidt. In August 2011, the Schmidt-Demeters instituted litigation against American Commerce asking the court to declare that there is coverage and that American Commerce committed the tort of Bad Faith, violated the Consumer Protection Act, Violated the Insurance Fair Conduct Act, and was in breach of contract. After completing its investigation, American Commerce denied the fire loss in August 2012. American Commerce asserted that it acted in good faith because it fully investigated the claim, uncovered strong evidence of arson as well as misrepresentation and concealment by the insureds. After a five-week, jury trial, which commenced on September 8, 2015, the Schmidt-Demeters requested that the jury award them nearly 8 Million Dollars plus attorney fees; they also asked the court for trebling of the jury award under the Insurance Fair Conduct Act. The jury found that the fire loss was caused by Mr. Schmidt intentionally setting his family home on fire and American Commerce obtained a full defense verdict.
