Section 35 Parties Entitled to Make a Claim

• Library: Damages 2012

The vexatious penalty statutes apply only to first-party claims. Thus, only an insured or the insured’s beneficiaries are entitled to make claims under the statutes. See Overcast v. Billings Mut. Ins. Co., 11 S.W.3d 62, 68 (Mo. banc 2000). The court in Craig v. Iowa Kemper Mutual Insurance Co., 565 S.W.2d 716, 720 (Mo. App. W.D. 1978), overruled on other grounds, stated, “[O]nly where performance under the policy flows directly from the insurer to the insured or his beneficiary do these statutes aid. These actions are most aptly described as first party claims.” Likewise, the beneficiary of a...