Lin v. Belair Insurance Company Inc. was an action for accident benefits consequent upon a serious motor vehicle accident. The plaintiff sought to compel production of some internal emails of the insurer, dealing with the setting of reserves for the claim. Counsel for the plaintiff argued that because breach of a duty of good faith had been alleged against the insurer, the emails were relevant to the issue of how the claim had been handled.
Master R.A. Muir rejected this submission, noting that “nothing in the pleadings suggests that the alleged bad faith on the part of the defendant somehow relates to or arises from the setting of the reserves. Information relating to the setting of reserves per se does not have a semblance of relevance.”