Court Opinion

ID: 9712517
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:55:20.990453+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:12.681469
License: Public Domain

SPAETH, Judge
dissenting:
Although it is true that an insurance company’s continued participation in the defense of its insured may operate as a waiver of its right to later deny coverage, Cohen Appeal, 182 Pa.Super. 399, 406, 128 A.2d 114 (1956), I am not certain that the insurance company in this case did engage in such “continued participation.” The majority, like the lower court, “base[s] its decision on the fact that the insurer waited some sixteen months after the accident in order to withdraw from the case and after it had directed appellants to file an appearance, an answer, and new matter.” At 541. But as appellant argues, and I think persuasively, the relevant time period is not sixteen but three months, starting *237when appellant was retained by the insurer and ending with the filing of the petition to withdraw. Appellant’s Brief at 8. I should therefore remand for a hearing to determine whether prejudice occurred within that period. If the lower court found that prejudice did occur, appellant would be estopped from raising the question of coverage. If the lower court found no prejudice, the issue of coverage would have to be decided.
The case should be remanded for further proceedings.