Light v. Allstate Insurance

DAVIS, Chief Justice:

This Court is presented with a certified question from the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia involving the issue of mandatory bifurcation and a stay of a first-party bad-faith claim against an insurer, pending resolution of the underlying contract or tort claim. We conclude that in a first-party bad faith action against an insurer that also involves an underlying contract or tort claim against the insurer, it is not mandatory that the trial court bifurcate and stay the bad faith claim. Nor, is it mandatory that discovery be stayed on…