Hertz Corporation v. Stanislav Babayev and Oleg Chikov

Summary

The court held that a car rental company offering supplemental insurance through a policy issued by a licensed insurer is neither a statutory insurer nor a common-law de facto insurer. The statutory scheme distinguishes rental companies from insurers, and the common-law bad-faith exception applies only to entities whose primary business is claims handling and that have both primary responsibility for claims administration and a significant financial stake in claim resolution. The court therefore reversed the court of appeals and directed reinstatement of the dismissal.