Kontowicz v. American Standard Insurance Co. of Wisconsin

¶ 57. (dissenting). In 1975 the legislature amended the Wisconsin Insurance Code to require insurers to promptly pay every insurance claim. § 708, ch. 39, Laws of 1975. The new statute *333(Wis. Stat. § 631.02 (1975)) determined that an insurance claim would be overdue if not paid within 30 days after the insurer was furnished with written notice of the fact and amount of a covered loss. The statute included a potent enforcement mechanism: "All overdue payments shall bear simple interest at the rate of 12% per year." See Wis. Stat. § 628.46(1) (2003-04).1

¶ 58. In 1978 this court described the…