Jones v. Farmers Insurance Exchange

INTRODUCTION

1 Chad Jones sued his insurance company, Farmers Insurance Exchange, for breach of contract, bad faith breach of contract, and intentional infliction of emotional distress after Farmers denied his claim. Farmers defended by arguing that it did not breach its contract because Mr. Jones's claim was "fairly debatable." Farmers claimed this defense must be resolved through summary judgment. We clarify that the fairly-debatable defense should not be resolved through summary judgment if reasonable minds could differ as to whether the defendant's conduct measures up to the standard…