Montana Governor Greg Gianforte made it official. He signed three insurance reform bills into law last week that will give consumers more protections and — best of all — will reduce frivolous lawsuits.
Lyn Elliott of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) said these are important changes that will benefit all.
“We applaud Gov. Gianforte and the Montana Legislature for approving these legal reform measures that will benefit and protect both consumers and businesses,” Elliott said. “Today, plaintiff lawyers often use a host of abusive tactics that turn the civil justice system into a commodities market supporting third parties’ interests rather than the victims.”
Here are the bill numbers and what they do:
- SB 165 eliminates third-party common law bad faith suits in Montana and sets up an insurance claims cooperation and affirmation defense for insurers.
- SB 236 requires someone filing a claim to provide timely, reasonable records that are relevant. It also requires that time-limited settlement demand letters reasonably describe the claim and allow 60-days for acceptance.
- SB 269 says all third party litigation financing entities disclose their involvement to all parties and the court. It puts a limit on the interest rates that third party litigation funding (TPLF) can charge plaintiffs. It caps how much a TPLF can recover and take from a plaintiff and sets up a liability for the TPLF for court-ordered costs or penalties against a plaintiff.
Source link: Insurance Journal — https://bit.ly/3BtZrXs
