Law Commons^™

The Tort Of Bad Faith In First-Party Insurance Transactions: Refining The Standard Of Culpability And Reformulating The Remedies By Statute, Roger C. Henderson

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article explores the common-law and statutory background of the tort of bad faith in first-party insurance situations analyzes the varying standards of culpability that have been developed by the courts and suggests a uniform statutory solution to the problems created by the varying standards. The statute also tailors the remedies more closely to the particular type of insurer wrongdoing. The proposed remedies recognize the dual nature of the insurer-insured relationship, that is, one based upon contract and tort concepts. Such a statute would eliminate many of the ambiguities and other deficiencies in the common law of those states that …

Judicial Bias, The Insurance Industry And Consumer Protection: An Empirical Analysis Of State Supreme Courts’ Bad-Faith, Breach-Of-Contract, Breach-Of-Covenant-Of-Good-Faith And Excess-Judgment Decisions, 1900–1991, Willy E. Rice

Faculty Articles

Consumers are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the services and products that the American insurance industry provides. Correspondingly, they are filing an ever-increasing number of lawsuits against insurers in state courts. While courts have ruled equally in favor of insurers and policyholders, advocates for both consumers and the insurance industry strongly believe “judicial bias” or “judicial hostility” permeates state supreme courts.

Some United States Supreme Court Justices have argued that state supreme courts are hostile towards insurance carriers. Commentators have also viciously criticized state supreme courts for being biased against insurance carriers. The contrary view that state supreme courts are anti-consumer …