Anderson v. Continental Insurance

We conclude that, upon the pleading of appropriate facts, an insured may assert a cause of action in tort against an insurer for the bad faith refusal to honor a claim of the insured.

The appeal is from an order of the circuit court, which dismissed the plaintiffs’ complaint on defendants’ motion grounded on the assertion that, in Wisconsin, no cause of action arises on behalf of a named insured, even where, under the pleadings, it is conceded that the insurer acted in bad faith in its refusal to honor the claim of the insured. The plaintiffs are Jacob R. Anderson and his wife, owners of a…