Liability for Bad Faith and the Principle without a Name (Yet)
Publisher
Connecticut Insurance Law Journal
Date
2012
In this article, Kenneth Abraham examines the concept of liability for bad faith practices on the part of insurers. Abraham asserts that liability for bad faith is a concept that has existed for roughly half a century despite its inability, as ofyet, to be recognized as part of the formal body of insurance law. Abraham details what has been, to some extent, a transmogrification with respect to the bad faith claim handling practices of the insurance industry. What once could be dismissed as nothing more than the occasional isolated incident, or "screw up, " can now be characterized by incidences of systemic bad faith. Abraham provides four examples, each one highlighting some form of systemic bad faith practice undertaken by an insurer. Abraham closes with a discussion of the uniqueness of the insurer-consumer relationship and how that relationship creates obligations offair dealing for insurers which simply do not exist for other private enterprises.
Citation
Kenneth S. Abraham, Liability for Bad Faith and the Principle without a Name (Yet), 19 Connecticut Insurance Law Journal, 1–12 (2012).