AIG could pay dearly for refusing to budge on a claim settlement offer of $2.65 million for nearly a year after receiving estimates that a jury would likely award the claimant $7.5 million for her injuries.
A jury did eventually award $7.5 million in damages and the plaintiff then sued AIG again for not making a prompt and fair settlement offer before the case went to trial. The First Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that whether AIG should have been more prompt with a fair offer should be decided by a jury. The appeals