Maxwell

—As this division previously found, emotional distress damages are recoverable in first and third party insurance bad faith cases only when the plaintiffs have suffered some financial loss. (Waters v. United Services Auto. Assn. (1996) 41 Cal.App.4th 1063, 1070 [ 48 Cal.Rptr.2d 910 ].) Here, we hold, as a matter of law, that the third party judgment creditor’s loss of use of money during the defendant insurers’ 81-day delay in paying the balance due (with interest) under a judgment fails to meet the threshold financial loss requirement to allow emotional distress damages for bad faith. We affirm the summary judgment for the defendant insurers.

Factual and Procedural Background

During Little League practice on April 29, 1988, appellant Thomas Jeffrey Maxwell (hereinafter Maxwell), a minor, was struck in the face by a baseball bat wielded by respondent Fire Insurance Exchange’s insured, George Capiello. Maxwell filed a lawsuit alleging personal injuries and naming Capiello and the owners of the batting cage, the Grecos, who were the insureds of respondent Scottsdale Insurance Company (hereinafter Scottsdale). At trial, a judgment in the sum of $125,000 was returned in…