Governor Joe Manchin is addressing several issues of importance to the business community in his lawsuit and insurance reform proposals. They include:
Joint and several liability reform. Currently when there is a lawsuit involving several defendants, any of those defendants, regardless of the percentage of fault, could be held liable for the entire judgment.
The governor's proposal would change the law to reflect a defendant is only responsible for the portion of award that they are at fault.
Elimination of third party bad faith lawsuits. Currently, a third party may sue another person's insurance provider if they believe that the company failed to act in "good faith" in settling a claim.
Manchin's plan would require a claimant to first file a complaint with the state Insurance Commission in order to resolve their grievance. If the commissioner determines that an insurance company did in fact act in bad faith, fines ranging from $10,000 to $250,000 could be assessed against the company and a license suspension or revocation could follow.
In the event that a third party is not satisfied with the commissioner's ruling, they could appeal to Circuit Court.
