Vehicle service agreement subject to good faith
In McMullan v. Enterprise Financial Group, Inc., the question certified to the Oklahoma Supreme Court was whether a bad faith claim could be brought against a vehicle service provider.
In McMullan, the plaintiff purchased a used car from a dealership, and also purchased a vehicle service contract from the Defendant, Enterprise. The service contract indemnified the buyer for certain repair costs if mechanical breakdowns occurred before 48 months or 50,000 miles, whichever happened first. When a claim was made within 6 months, Defendant refused to pay. McMullan sued Enterprise for breach of contract and bad faith.
The trial court granted summary judgment on the bad faith claim, since the vehicle service agreement was not an insurance contract. The Oklahoma Supreme Court reversed. The court states:
Although vehicle service providers may not be subject to the exact same requirements and regulations as insurance providers, vehicle service contracts meet the definition of and are designed to function and perform as "insurance." The consumer pays for indemnity and pays to shift the risk of paying for high repair costs to the vehicle service provider in exchange for a pre-paid premium. Because these contracts function like insurance, their providers should be subject to the same covenants of good faith that insurers must meet.
