A lawsuit arose from a claim presented by the Plaintiff to the insurance company for uninsured motorist coverage. In the claim, Plaintiff stated that he was injured while riding his motorcycle. A red car passed him and cut-off a beige car traveling in the lane in front of him causing the beige car to brake suddenly. As a result, Plaintiff locked his brakes and was forced to lay down his motorcycle to avoid a collision. Plaintiff collided with the center barrier wall at a high speed and sustained significant injuries.

Upon investigation, the insurance company found the Plaintiff to be 100% at fault. Since the beige car had been able to safely slow down without striking the red car, the insurance company reasoned the Plaintiff also should have been able to safely slow down unless he was following too closely. In addition, the police officer recorded Plaintiff’s blood alcohol level at 0.09 which is above the legal limit for operating a vehicle in Oklahoma. It was also noted Plaintiff was traveling at speeds 5-10 miles per hour above the speed limit. As such, the insurance company denied the claim concluding that UM coverage is not available when the insured was more than 50% at fault.

As a result of the denial of the claim, Plaintiff filed suit against the insurance company alleging breach of contract (a cause of action which was later dropped just before trial) and "bad faith".

The jury returned a verdict in favor of the Plaintiff agreeing that the insurance company had acted in bad faith by denying the claim. Shortly thereafter, the insurance company filed a motion for judgment as a matter of law arguing that it acted reasonably and relief upon legitimate reasons for denying the claim. Ultimately, the trial court granted the insurance company’s motion and ruled in favor of the insurer. Plaintiff appealed.

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s judgment in favor of insurance company agreeing that based upon the facts known, a reasonable jury could not find that the insurance company failed to act reasonably in denying the claim. Further, there was no evidence showing the insurance company failed to properly investigate the claim. Bannister v. State Farm Mut. Automobile Ins. Co.,692 F.3d 1117, (10^th Cir. 2012).