Agent not required to reimburse Insurance Company for bad faith judgment
In Guideone v. Shore, Guideone (Insurer) wanted Shore (Agent) to pay for all or part of a bad faith settlement it made with its insured. Apparently Agent had told the insured that her UM coverage did not kick in until after the liability carrier paid its limits. This is wrong under Oklahoma law. But, when the insured repeated this information to the Insurer, the Insurer did not correct the error. In addition, the Insurer did not timely investigate the claim. As a result, the Insurer was sued for UM and for Bad Faith. The Insurer settled with the Insured, and then went after the Agent for the money it paid in extracontractual damages. Summary judgment to the Agent was affirmed.
There was no express indemnity in the Agency contract, so summary judgment was appropriate on that theory. There was no right to implied indemnity because the Insurer was at fault for the Insured's claims. There was no right to contribution under the contribution among joint torfeasors statute (12 O.S. § 832) because as an agent, Agency could not be liable to the insured for bad faith.
