PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh man involved in an auto accident is suing Progressive, alleging breach of contract and statutory bad faith surrounding his insurance policy.
Jeffery D. Reitz of Pittsburgh filed a lawsuit Dec. 29 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against Progressive Specialty Insurance Company, alleging refusal to provide $1.5 million insurance coverage.
According to the complaint, Reitz suffered severe and debilitating injuries from an auto accident July 11, 2015, in Squirrel Hill, and Progressive refused to provide any coverage to Reitz on the basis that he was not insured under the policy according to Progressive.
The suit alleges the coverage position was unreasonable, both on the face of the policy and because a recent state court decision involving the exact same policy language made it clear Reitz was an insured under the policy.
The lawsuit states after Reitz's counsel discovered the court decision that Progressive attempted to hide, the insurance company agreed Reitz was insured under the policy and invoked for the first time “regular use” exclusion to deny him $500,000 in under-insured motor vehicle coverage. The coverage position was allegedly unreasonable because the exclusion does not apply to Reitz.
Reitz seeks a jury trial and damages of $500,000, compensatory and punitive damages, plus court and attorney fees. He will be represented by attorneys Scott D. Livingston and Daniel J. Stuart of Marcus & Shapira LLP of Pittsburgh.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania Case number 2:15-cv-01707-DSC