Clark et al v. Country Financial

Filing 23

ORDER Denying 21 Motion to Compel: the plaintiffs' motion to compel appraisal is denied without any determination as to the plaintiffs' entitlement to an appraisal and with consideration that the defendant's refusal to agree to an appraisal may be considered in connection with the bad faith claim, by Judge Richard P. Matsch on 6/13/2014.(jsmit)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Senior District Judge Richard P. Matsch
Civil Action No. 14-cv-00168-RPM
JEFFREY CLARK and
SHANNON LEE SMITH-CLARK,
Plaintiffs,
v.
COUNTRY FINANCIAL d/b/a COUNTRY MUTUAL
INSURANCE COMPANY,
Defendant.
_____________________________________________________________________
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO COMPEL APPRAISAL
_____________________________________________________________________
At the scheduling conference on April 22, 2014, counsel for the plaintiffs
suggested that the use of the appraisal process provided for in the insurance contract
may be an effective way to resolve this case and agreed that the non-contractual claims
in the case may be dismissed upon the completion of the appraisal. The Court
suggested that the defendant consider proceeding with the appraisal as an alternative
dispute resolution process and on May 22, 2014, the plaintiffs filed a motion to compel
appraisal and the defendant filed its response on June 12, 2014, asserting legal issues
affecting the right to an appraisal, including the question of timeliness. Because the
Court had the expectation that the appraisal process may be used to resolve the case
by agreement, and it appearing that there is no agreement, it is
ORDERED that the plaintiffs’ motion to compel appraisal is denied without any
determination as to the plaintiffs’ entitlement to an appraisal and with consideration that

the defendant’s refusal to agree to an appraisal may be considered in connection with
the bad faith claim.
DATED: June 13th, 2014
BY THE COURT:
s/Richard P. Matsch
________________________________
Richard P. Matsch, Senior District Judge

2