The Court of Appeals of Kentucky (COAKY) announced six decisions this week of January 17, 2014, none of which were designated “to be published”. Click here for complete list of all archived Court of Appeals’ Minutes that you can download from the Administrative Office of the Courts’ web site.
However, some confusion exists, at least, in the numbering sequence as you will note they have been numbered 1-6, and these numbers were used in the first weeks minutes (eg., those posted for Jan. 3, 2013).
For a brief summary of some decisions dealing with torts, insurance, and civil procedure issues:
01. Wagner vs. Bevins.
The COA addressed the enforcement of a settlement agreement, but within the context of a real estate dispute rather than a personal injury claim. Judge Lambert’s analysis started with Clark v. Burden, 917 S.W.2d 574 (Ky. 1996), and the COA found no error with the trial court’s conclusion that Ms. Wagner authorized the settlement at issue in this case and then later determined that it was not in her best interest and tried to revoke that authority.
06. Murphy vs. Travelers Cas. and Surety Co.
Here the COA stated the obvious and affirmed the dismissal of a claim of violation of the Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act because the underlying insurance policy had lapsed and was not in force at the time of the alleged conduct. Or as stated much better than I
The courts of this Commonwealth have continually held that absent a contractual obligation, i.e., an insurance policy, there can be no bad faith cause of action and no violation of the UCSPA. See Davidson v. American Freightways, Inc., 25 S.W.3d 94 (Ky. 2000); Wittmer v. Jones, 864 S.W.2d 885 (Ky. 1993); Kentucky Nat. Ins. Co. v. Shaffer, 155 S.W.3d 738 (Ky. App. 2004). We are bound by those decisions.
[gview file=”http://apps.courts.ky.gov/Appeals/Minutes/MNT01172014.pdf”]
