Section 12 Generally

• Library: Damages 2012

The general rule has been that, if there is an open question of fact or law that is determinative of the insurer’s liability, the insurer, acting in good faith, may insist on a judicial determination of those questions without being penalized under the vexatious penalty statutes. See Wood v. Safeco Ins. Co. of Am., 980 S.W.2d 43, 55 (Mo. App. E.D. 1998); Columbia Mut. Ins. Co. v. Epstein, 239 S.W.3d 667, 675 (Mo. App. E.D. 2007). In State ex rel. Gott v. Fidelity & Deposit Co. of Baltimore, Md., 298 S.W. 83, 91 (Mo. 1927), the rule was stated to be that, if the questions raised “were such that...