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In Clark v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., No. 167,2015, 2016 WL 125432 (Del. January 11, 2016), the Supreme Court of Delaware affirmed a lower court's refusal to certify a class of people whose motor vehicle insurance claims were not paid within 30 days and yet did not receive interest payments from their insurance carrier.
The named plaintiffs had both been paid interest although their motor vehicle insurance claims had been received but not paid within thirty days.
The Supreme Court refused to follow the plaintiffs' newer theory requesting that the Delaware statute be construed to require payment of motor vehicle insurance claims within thirty days, "or else." The Court wrote that the Delaware Legislature left those decisions to itself, and not to the Delaware Judiciary. In the statute at bar, the Legislature made its policy choice: The consequence for not paying insurance claims within thirty days of receipt is the accumulation of interest.
Please Read The Disclaimer. ©2016 by Dennis J. Wall, author of "Insurance Claims and Issues" (forthcoming Thomson Reuters 2016). All rights reserved.
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