SS SCS SB 213 was third read today by the Missouri Senate. The bill is sponsored by Senator Caleb Rowden, (R-Boone County).
The bill fixes a current hole in the statute that allows attorneys to issue demand letters to defendants and their insurers with short time limits that do not allow sufficient time to evaluate the claim.
Associated Industries of Missouri and many of our members worked on compromise language over a number of years and are supportive of this language. The bill closes the current loophole without harming the rights of companies in disputes with their insurance companies. But the bill targets and fixes the current problem created by plaintiffs’ attorneys that use this loophole to claim insurance companies are acting in bad faith. That allows them to obtain judgments in excess of policy limits.
A similar bill, SCS HCS HB’s 339 & 714, sponsored by Rep. Bruce DeGroot, also advanced from Committee today in the Senate. It addresses the time-limited demands with identical language and also addresses abusive agreements that allow a plaintiff and defendant to collude against the defendant’s insurance company.
The bill now moves to the Missouri House for further consideration.
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