Recent statutory changes have substantially curbed bad faith and excess set up activities and tactics in Missouri. However, there are always new tricks and tactics employed and this often occurs on a broad scale with the sharing of forms and strategies among the Plaintiffs bar throughout the state.
In a game changing decision, the Missouri Supreme Court has held that an insurer has an absolute right to Intervene into an ongoing lawsuit when coverage is an issue and seek a stay of that action pending the results of a filed Declaratory Judgment action to determine if coverage exists.
A significant Missouri “tort-reform” law went into effect on August 28, 2018. That statute is R.S.Mo. § 507.060 and specifically addresses multi-claimant exposures. The law addresses the scenario frequently faced by insurers wherein their insured is at fault for a collision resulting in more damages than the policy of insurance affords coverage for.
In the end – at long last – the citizens of Kansas can rest easier knowing that common sense (which apparently, as they say, is not so common) has prevailed and a significant question of law has now been definitively answered.