CLARKSBURG – A man is suing Westfield Insurance Co. over allegations he was injured in a car accident and the insurance company failed to pay out what he was owed.
Robert Campione was in a car accident on Jan. 22, 2018, when Joy Mills failed to yield to oncoming traffic and struck Campione's vehicle, according to a complaint filed in Monongalia Circuit Court and then removed to U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia on Feb. 20.
Campione claims he sustained serious injuries due to the accident.
Progressive, Mills' insurance company, offered to settle Campione's claims against Mills for its policy limits and Westfield consented to the settlement, according to the suit.
Campione claims Westfield failed to make a reasonable offer to him for the settlement if his underinsurance claims.
The plaintiff suffered physical, emotional and other damages of which exceeded the liability insurance limits available under Mills' insurance policy, according to the suit.
Campione claims Westfield failed to attempt in good faith to effectuate a prompt, fair and equitable settlement for Campione's claim and attempted to settle Campione's claim for less than the amount which a reasonable person would have believed he was entitled to.
Westfield has a pattern and practice of offering unreasonably low settlement offers to its insureds and/or offering unreasonably low settlements even when liability and damages are reasonably clear, the plaintiff alleges.
Campione is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. He is represented by Dino S. Colombo and Jon R. Godwin of Colombo Law in Morgantown.
Westfield removed the case to federal court, alleging that because a diversity of citizenship exists, the case must be in federal court. The insurance company also alleges that the amount in controversy exceeds the state court limit of $75,000.
Westfield is represented by Daniel J. Twilla of Burns White Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia case number 1:20-cv-00031