Insurance — conditional receipt agreements

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United States Court of Appeals

Civil

Insurance — conditional receipt agreements

Where a prospective insured failed to comply with the terms of a conditional receipt agreement, no contract was formed.

“Tabatabai contends that the district court erred in dismissing the claim that West Coast Life owed and breached an implied duty of good faith and fair dealing. According to Tabatabai, when Ms. Keshmiri provided her application, paid her initial $100 premium, and complied with West Coast Life’s initial request for blood and urine specimens, she and West Coast Life entered into a binding contractual relationship rendering the CRA effective. While Tabatabai correctly argues that under Wisconsin law an implied duty of good faith and fair dealing exists in all contractual relationships, this argument ultimately fails. As both the district court and we have noted, because Ms. Keshmiri did not satisfy the conditions precedent required by the CRA, regardless of the unfortunate nature of the circumstances, no contract was ever formed. Established Wisconsin law states, ‘If there is no contract, the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing does not come into play.’ NII-JII Entm’t, LLC v. Troha, 2007 WI App. 183 (Wis. Ct. App. 2007).”

Affirmed.

11-1170 Tabatabai v. West Coast Life Ins. Co.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Stadtmueller, J., Bauer, J.