Van Dyke v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance

In our opinion issued today in Van Dyke v. Bixby, ante 663 (1983), we upheld judgments awarding damages to the Van Dykes, the plaintiffs in that action and in this one. The Bixby case, which we shall call the underlying action, involved the liability of the defendant physicians for a deceased associate’s alleged negligence in the treatment of the plaintiff, Edwin S. Van Dyke. In this action, the Van Dykes seek to recover damages under G. L. c. 93A, § 9, for alleged unfair claim settlement practices of the defendant insurer (St. Paul). The Van Dykes claim that St. Paul, as the defendants’…