Carford v. Empire Fire & Marine Insurance

Opinion

DiPENTIMA, J.

In this appeal, we address whether a third party claimant has a cause of action for unfair claim settlement practices against an insurer. The plaintiffs, Randolph Carford and Vidalina Carford, appeal from the judgment of the trial court rendered after the granting of the motion filed by the defendant, Empire Fire & Marine Insurance Company, to strike both counts of the plaintiffs’ complaint. On appeal, the plaintiffs claim that the court improperly granted the motion to strike because an injured plaintiff need not be a party to an insurance contract or be subrogated to the…