Long-Term Care Insurance: Claims-handling Practices Used To Deny Claims Can Lead to Staggeringly High Punitive Damages
For those who have practiced disability insurance litigation, the conduct of many long-term care insurance companies today is rather head-scratching. Did insurers really learn nothing from all the multi-million-dollar punitive damage awards from juries across the country stemming from the wrongful termination of disability insurance claims? (See, e.g., Chapman v. UnumProvident Corp., Marin County Superior Court, Jan. 23, 2003, Case No. CV012323 [$30 million punitive damage verdict]; Ceimo v. General American Life Ins. Co., D. Ariz., Apr. 22, 2003, Case No. CV00-1386 PHX FJM [$79 million punitive damage verdict]; Merrick v. Paul Revere Life Ins. Co., D. Nev., Case No. CV-S-00- 0731-JCM-RJJ [$60 million punitive damage award]; Ace v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., D. Alaska., Case No. J94-0018 CV [$16.5 million punitive damage award].) CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE