HOW THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES COSTS THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY

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Neither the courts nor the governmental agencies seem to be aware that in a modern, capitalistic society, insurance is a necessity. No prudent person would take the risk of starting a business, buying a home, or driving a car without insurance. The risk of losing everything would be too great.

A simple insurance contract between two parties might say: “I insure you against the risk of loss of your engagement ring valued at $15,000 by all risks of direct physical loss except wear and tear for a premium paid by you of $15.00.” Anyone who could read would understand that contract. If something happens to damage, destroy or lose the ring the insurer will pay you $15,000.00.

Bad Faith Causes Bad Behavior

In the 1950s, the California Supreme Court created a tort new to the pantheon of U.S. jurisprudence: the tort of bad faith.
A tort is a civil wrong from which one person can receive damages from another for multiple injuries to person or property. The tort of bad faith was created because an insurer failed to treat an insured fairly, and the court felt that the traditional contract damages were insufficient to properly compensate the insured.

The insurers who treated their insureds badly, in fact, profited since they continued their wrongful acts and only were required to pay the few insureds that sued. Those that did not sue added to the wrongdoing insurers profit margins.

The law of unintended consequences struck the insurance industry and the insurance buying public. Rather than deter wrongful actions by application of the tort of bad faith, the law of unintended consequences resulted in punishing the honest and correct insurers, honoring the insurers who acted in bad faith with profit, and allowed many frauds to succeed.

Get my Book It’s Time to Abolish The Tort of Bad Faith

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Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE, is available at http://www.zalma.com and [email protected].
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