Allstate Insurance Co. v. Mottolese, 261 Conn. 521

Summary

The Connecticut Supreme Court held that an insurer’s proper exercise of its insured’s statutory right to a trial de novo after nonbinding arbitration could not serve as the basis for sanctions under Practice Book § 14-13. Because the insurer was present at the pretrial proceeding and its refusal to increase its settlement offer was not equivalent to failing to attend, the court reversed and remanded with direction to vacate the sanctions order.

Holdings

1. A party's proper exercise of its statutory right to a trial de novo after nonbinding arbitration cannot serve as the basis for sanctions under Practice Book § 14-13.
2. An insurer that is present at the pretrial conference through its agent cannot be deemed absent solely because it declines to negotiate beyond its existing settlement offer.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a party's proper exercise of its statutory right to a trial de novo following nonbinding arbitration may serve as the basis for sanctions under Practice Book § 14-13.
2. Whether an insurer that appears at a pretrial conference through its claims representative may be treated as having failed to attend merely because it declines to increase its settlement offer.

Disposition

writ_granted