Opinion ID: 2640593
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 15

Heading: The Elements of a Bad-Faith Claim

Text: ¶ 3 The Christian bad-faith tort [2] imposes liability upon an insurer only where there is a clear showing that the insurer unreasonably, and in bad-faith, withholds payment of the claim of its insured. [3] ¶ 4 The conduct of an insurer must be examined in light of the information known or knowable by the insurer at the time performance under the contract was requested. [4] When presented with a claim by its insured, an insurance company must tender prompt payment due under the terms of its policy. [5] ¶ 5 The elements of a bad-faith claim require that an insurer do not: (1) Be Unreasonable; (2) Take action in bad-faith; [6] (3) Act to withhold a benefit owed to its insured under the terms of the policy. The presence of the claim's requisite elements must be proved and judicially assessed in light of information that was known or knowable to the insurer at the time benefits were alleged to have been tortiously withheld.