Hollaway v. Direct General Insurance Co. of Mississippi, 497 S.W.3d 733

Low-speed parking-lot collision involving Sykes (insured by Direct General) and Bartlett driving Hollaway’s car; parties dispute fault and causation of Hollaway’s injuries.
Hollaway sustained minor vehicle damage (~$463) and sought medical treatment, alleging back/hip injuries, lost wages, and exhaustion of no-fault benefits.
Direct General paid property damage, initially evaluated fault for its insured but disputed causation and severity of Hollaway’s injuries; offered $5,000 for bodily injury; Hollaway demanded $125,000.
Hollaway sued for negligence (against Sykes), UIM (against Allstate), and third-party bad faith under the Kentucky Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act (KUCSPA) against Direct General; only the bad-faith claim remained.
Trial court granted summary judgment for Direct General, finding genuine disputes over liability and causation; Court of Appeals affirmed (excluding certain evidence as procedurally defective); Supreme Court granted discretionary review and affirmed summary judgment.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether appellate court properly excluded Hollaway’s interrogatory answers and expert report	Hollaway: those materials were admissible and created factual disputes	Direct General: materials were procedurally deficient and not proper sworn affidavits	Court: declined to decide exclusion issue as harmless error because summary judgment was proper on the merits
Whether Direct General’s conduct met KUCSPA/Wittmer bad-faith standard (liability element)	Hollaway: insurer’s early statements and settlement offers show it admitted liability	Direct General: liability and causation were legitimately disputed; settlements and early impressions are not conclusive	Held: liability for the claim was not “beyond dispute”; genuine dispute exists over causation and severity, defeating first Wittmer element
Whether insurer acted with requisite mental state (reckless indifference/outrageousness) under Wittmer	Hollaway: refusal to negotiate and low settlement offer evidenced bad faith	Direct General: its investigation and position evolution were reasonable; no evidence of reckless indifference or punitive conduct	Held: Hollaway failed to show insurer acted with reckless indifference or outrageous conduct; no colorable bad-faith claim

Wittmer v. Jones, 864 S.W.2d 885 (Ky. 1993) (establishes three-part test for third-party bad-faith claims under KUCSPA)
Motorists Mut. Ins. Co. v. Glass, 996 S.W.2d 437 (Ky. 1997) (discusses mental-state standards for bad-faith claims)
Farmland Mut. Ins. Co. v. Johnson, 36 S.W.3d 368 (Ky. 2000) (interpretation of KUCSPA duties)
Combs v. Stortz, 276 S.W.3d 282 (Ky. App. 2009) (evidence and affidavit principles on summary judgment)
Hammons v. Hammons, 327 S.W.3d 444 (Ky. 2010) (summary judgment standard and viewing facts for nonmovant)