April 1, 2019

The Supreme Court of Nevada took a minority standpoint when they determined that an insurer's liability is not capped at policy limits and defense costs when an insurer breaches it's duty to defend. Instead, the insurer might be liable for consequential damages caused by the breach even if it did not act in bad faith. The case is Century Sur. Co. v. Andrew,432 P. 3d 180 (Nev. 2018).

A truck owned and driven by Michael Vasquez struck and caused significant brain injuries to Ryan Pretner. Vasquez used the truck for personal use and for his mobile auto detailing business, Blue Streak Auto Detailing, LLC. (Blue Streak). When the accident occurred, Vasquez had a personal auto insurance policy with a $100,000 limit from Progressive Casualty Insurance Company (Progressive) and Blue Streak was insured under a commercial liability policy with a one million dollar policy limit issued by Century Surety Company (Century).