GRAPEVINE, TEXAS–Measures that could increase insurers' lawsuit liability and cut into their bottom lines surfaced in statehouses across the country as Democrats took control in 2007, an official with the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies said.
Among the more significant issues resurfacing, said NAMIC vice president of state and regulatory affairs Neil Alldredge, is third-party liability. These bills, he explained, make it easier for claimants to allege “bad faith” and file suit against their insurers in disputes as well as to seek additional damages.
Maryland enacted a “really bad” bill on the issue for the industry, he said, and Minnesota lawmakers were engaged in a “very protracted, lengthy debate” before a bill there ultimately failed on the last day of the state legislative session. “It was a real fistfight,” he said, adding that the measure would likely be an issue in next year's session as well.
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