M. R. Zumwalt, C. W. Zumwalt, H. J. Zumwalt and Herman H. Buergler, as Last Board of Directors and Trustees of Zumwalt Co., a Corporation, Now Dissolved, Plaintiffs-Respondents-Cross-Appellants, v. Utilities Insurance Company, a Corporation, Defendant-Respondent-Appellant, 360 Mo. 362

Two individuals filed actions against an insured manufacturing company when garage doors manufactured by the insured flew up during installation, causing injuries. The insurer refused to settle the claims because the settlement demands were at the policy limits, and their reinsurer insisted on trials. The actions were tried and judgments were rendered in excess of the policy limits. The insured claimed negligence and bad faith against the insurer for failure to settle within the policy limits, and the jury returned a damages award for the insured. The trial court refused to submit to the jury the issues of attorney's fees or punitive damages, and refused the insurer's request for a directed verdict. The court held that the evidence did not support punitive damages, but it supported bad faith, because the insurer disregarded the insured's desire to settle and tried the cases when the reinsurer failed to contribute, and the insurer had nothing to lose. Moreover, Mo. Rev. Stat. § 6040 ...