Wis JI-Civil 2761

To prove bad faith against (insurance company), the (plaintiff) must establish that

there was no reasonable basis for the insurance company's denying (plaintiff)'s claim for

benefits under (his) (her) policy and that (insurance company), in denying the claim, either

knew or recklessly failed to ascertain that the claim should have been paid.

Bad faith on the part of an insurance company towards its insured is the absence of

honest, intelligent action or consideration of its insured's claim.

Bad faith exists if, upon an examination of the facts found by you, you are able to

conclude that (defendant) had no reasonable basis for denying (plaintiff)'s claim.

In answering this question, you may consider whether (plaintiff)'s claim was properly

investigated and whether the results of the investigation were given a reasonable evaluation

and review. If you find that (insurance company) either refused to consider the (plaintiff)'s

claim for damages, made no investigation, or conducted its investigation in such a way as to

prevent it from learning the true facts upon which the (plaintiff)'s claim is based, the

insurance company can be found to have exercised bad faith. This is because you may infer

from these facts a reckless disregard on the insurance company's part to learn that there was

no reasonable basis for it to deny (plaintiff)'s claim.

If, on the other hand, you find that the insurance company, after conducting a

thorough investigation of the facts and circumstances giving rise to the (plaintiff)'s claim,

reasonably concluded that the claim is debatable or questionable, then there is no bad faith

even though it refused to pay the claim.

(Burden of Proof: Middle Burden, Wis JI-Civil 205)

SPECIAL VERDICT

Did (defendant) exercise bad faith in denying the claim of (plaintiff)?

Answer: ____________

Yes or No