$6.2 Million Verdict In Disability Insurance Bad Faith Case

A disability insurance company's bad faith practices have yielded a $6.2 million verdict to a claimant's estate reports the Rapid City Journal, "Federal Jury Awards Local Woman's Estate $6.2 Million." 

The claimant, a high school Spanish teacher, took a home equity loan and, as a measure of protection, purchased disability insurance.  Her health began to fail, she had to stop working full-time and she was eventually diagnosed with cancer.  When she filed a claim, the insurance company made up a bogus ground that she had filed her claim too late.  She hired a lawyer, who caught them in their lie and they then paid up in part.  The jury awarded $200,000 in compensatory and $6 million in punitive damages.  There was evidence that the insurance company systematically used deceptive practices to deny legitimate claims.  The case is Powell v. CUNA Mutual Insurance Society.