Leuchtenmacher v. Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co.

LARSON, Justice.

The issue here is whether an insured estate which has recovered in a suit against its own insurance company for uninsured motorist benefits is thereafter precluded from suing the company for its alleged bad-faith failure to settle the claim. The district court, ruling that the earlier suit on the policy precluded a separate suit for bad-faith failure to settle, dismissed the petition. We reverse and remand.

In April 1987, Alice Leuchtenmacher was killed in a collision with a vehicle operated by Robert Odegard. Alice’s estate sued both Odegard and Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance…