Procentury Insurance Company issued a Commercial Ocean and Marine Insurance Policy to Harbor House Club Condominium Association. Harbor House owned wharves and piers. They were damaged by a storm in 2008. Within 7 months, Procentury denied Harbor House's Claim to Insurance Policy Proceeds "because it found that Harbor House materially misrepresented the risk to be insured." "On that same day," Procentury filed an action for Declaratory Judgment in Federal Court seeking a Declaration that the subject Policy was rescinded or was otherwise void from inception. Harbor House counterclaimed for Breach of Contract and Bad Faith. Download Procentury Insurance Co v. Harbor House Club Condominium Assoc., Inc. (D.N.J. Opinion filed 08.19.09), attached Official Slipsheet Opinion at 3-5.
Procentury filed a Motion for Summary Judgment on Harbor House's Counterclaim. In part, Procentury argued that New Jersey substantive First Party Bad Faith Law requires the Insured to prove that the Insurance Company did not have a fairly or reasonably debatable basis for denying the Insured's Claim. However, there were no undisputed facts in the record which addressed these contentions in the handling of this particular Claim in this particular case. The Federal Court accordingly denied the Motion for Summary Judgment on the Bad Faith Counterclaim filed by the Insured in response to a Claim or cause of action for Rescission in this case. Download Procentury Insurance Co v. Harbor House Club Condominium Assoc., Inc. (D.N.J. Opinion filed 08.19.09), at 12.
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