{"data":{"id":"us-mt/33-18-233","jurisdiction":"us-mt","citation":"33-18-233","heading":"Administrative penalty for failure to pay promptly.","body":"(1) The commissioner may, after a hearing, impose an administrative fine as provided in 33-1-317 on an insurer if the commissioner finds that the insurer as a general course of business practice in this state fails to:\n(a) use due diligence in processing all claims;\n(b) pay claims in a timely manner;\n(c) provide proper notice, when required, with respect to the reasons for the insurer's failure to make claim payments when due;\n(d) pay, without just cause, proper claims arising under coverage provided by its policies, whether the claims are in favor of an insured, in favor of a third person with respect to the liability of an insured to the third person, or in favor of any other person entitled to the benefits of a policy; or\n(e) pay interest pursuant to 33-18-232(2).\n(2) If an insurer can demonstrate that it has consistently paid 90% of the total dollar amount outstanding in claims to each claimant within 20 working days and all of the amount within 30 working days of receipt of claims during the 6-month period immediately preceding the hearing date, the insurer is not subject to the fine described in subsection (1).","path":["TITLE 33. INSURANCE AND INSURANCE COMPANIES","CHAPTER 18. UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES","Part 2. Insurer's Relations With Insured and Claimant"],"source_url":"https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0330/chapter_0180/part_0020/section_0330/0330-0180-0020-0330.html","current_through":"Montana Code Annotated 2025","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T04:52:37Z","sha256":"83f9d86c531ed3d8a174338dac75832cbc82d3c73305e5444a873a845addf5be","source_id":"us-mt","stale":false,"prev":"us-mt/33-18-232","next":"us-mt/33-18-234"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}