Gibson v. Western Fire Insurance

In an action against Western Fire Insurance Company for its bad faith refusal to settle a third party malpractice claim within policy limits, judgment was entered in the Eleventh Judicial District Court, Flathead County, for compensatory damages of $250,000 and punitive damages of $300,000. Western appeals the judgment.

Western contends (1) that the judgment against it should not stand because improper standards determining the bad faith of an insurer were , applied; (2) that the compensatory damages are excessive and not supported by the evidence; (3) that the judgment for punitive damages is…