Insurer's Duty to Settle for Policy Limits When Defending Non-Covered Claims Under Reservation of Rights

Scott Godes, co-chair of Barnes & Thornburg’s Insurance Recovery and Counseling and Data Security and Privacy Groups, and Scott Bertschi from Clyde & Co US will present a Strafford webinar, “Insurer's Duty to Settle for Policy Limits When Defending Non-Covered Claims Under Reservation of Rights.”

The panel will outline the best strategies for dealing with settlement demands for claims that insurance companies assert include covered and non-covered liabilities. The session will also discuss whether the duty to defend includes an absolute duty to settle if an offer falls within the policy limits--even where the insurer has filed a declaratory judgment action disputing coverage; if there is a greater duty to defend in the third-party context; the effects of a repayment clause in the underlying policy; how insurers can avoid liability and avoid a claim of bad faith; and if an insurer must accept all offers below the policy limits, regardless of circumstances.