Texas Supreme Court Issues Highly Anticipated Bad Faith Opinion

Jamie L. Moore | Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP | May 15, 2018

One year after its initial decision in a significant bad faith case, the Texas Supreme Court has issued its much-awaited opinion in USAA Tex. Lloyds Co. v. Menchaca. The case involved a homeowner whose post-Hurricane Ike property damage claim was denied by USAA Texas Lloyds Company (USAA). At trial, the jury found that USAA did not breach the policy, but that the company did violate the unfair settlement practices provisions of the Texas Insurance Code.

Given that “substantial confusion” existed in Texas courts regarding the relationship between contractual claims for breach of an insurance policy and statutory bad faith claims under the Texas Insurance Code, the Texas Supreme Court attempted to set clearer precedent in its original opinion in April 2017. However, the ruling was met with concern that it further muddied Texas insurance law and set negative precedent for insurers by reviving claims for treble damages under the Texas Insurance Code. In an unusual move, the Texas Supreme Court agreed to a rehearing.

In the newly released opinion, which replaces the 2017 ruling, the court reiterates the five “distinct but interrelated rules that govern the relationship between contractual and extra-contractual claims in the insurance context” it previously identified last year. Importantly, the court further clarifies the critical point for insurers that generally an insured cannot recover damages under the Texas Insurance Code without establishing a breach of the policy, and that exceptions to the general rule are narrow.

The five rules developed by the Texas Supreme Court that should be applied by Texas courts to the interplay between contractual and Texas Insurance Code statutory claims are:

1. The General Rule: An insured cannot recover policy benefits under a Texas Insurance Code violation if the insured does not have a right to those benefits under the policy. This rule derives from the fact that the Texas Insurance Code only allows an insured to recover actual damages “caused by” the insurer’s statutory violation.
2. The Entitled-to-Benefits Rule: An insured who establishes a right to receive policy benefits can recover the benefits as “actual damages” under the Texas Insurance Code if the statutory violation causes the loss of benefits. The court refers to this rule as a “logical corollary to the general rule.”
3. The Benefits-Lost Rule: An insured can recover benefits as actual damages under the Texas Insurance Code even if the insured has no right to those benefits under the policy if the insurer’s conduct caused the insured to lose that contractual right. This principal is recognized where an insurer misrepresented a policy’s coverage, waived its right to deny coverage or is estopped from doing so, or committed a violation that caused the insured to lose a contractual right to benefits that it otherwise would have had.
4. The Independent-Injury Rule: This rule has two aspects:
   1. If an insurer’s statutory violation causes an injury independent of the insured’s right to recover policy benefits, the insured may recover damages for that injury even if the policy does not entitle the insured to receive benefits. However, when an insured seeks to recover damages that “are predicated on,” “flow from,” or “stem from” policy benefits, the general rule applies and precludes recovery unless the policy entitles the insured to those benefits; and
   2. An insurer’s statutory violation does not permit the insured to recover any damages beyond policy benefits unless the violation causes an injury that is independent from the loss of benefits.
5. The No-Recovery Rule: An insured cannot recover any damages based on an insurer’s Texas Insurance Code violation unless the insured establishes a right to receive benefits under the policy or an injury independent of a right to benefits. This rule is considered “the natural corollary to the first four rules.”

The court also provided additional context and guidance for these rules. Ultimately, with respect to the claims at issue in this particular case, the court remanded the case to the trial court for a new trial consistent with its opinion.