Plaintiffs' Attorney: Increased Administrative Penalties Don't Help Claimants

AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Supreme Court closed the door on bad-faith lawsuits as a means of punishing egregious conduct by insurance carriers in 2012, but after that the state Division of Workers' Compensation stepped up enforcement actions against carriers. Are administrative penalties an effective substitute for bad faith in controlling insurers' behavior? At Wednesday’s Insurance Council of Texas Spring seminar, one claimants' attorney gave an emphatic "no." Houston attorney Michael Sprain said an administrative penalty against a carrier "...