Hudson v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance

I cannot concur with the statement in Division 4 of the opinion that whether the insurer handled plaintiff’s claim properly is not an issue in determining whether the insurer is liable for a penalty for late payment of the claim. Failure to exercise reasonable diligence to process and verify a claim is evidence that the insurer’s failure to pay the *354claim in the statutorily mandated time was in bad faith. See Hufstetler v. Intl. Indem. Co., 183 Ga. App. 606 (359 SE2d 399) (1987). Both the reasonableness of the proof submitted by the claimant and the insurer’s diligence in handling the claim…