An insurer repeatedly offers a Georgia claimant substantially less than the amount ultimately recovered, forcing the claimant to file suit to be paid fairly. Under O.C.G.A. § 33-6-34, this conduct is:

Why A is correct

Under O.C.G.A. § 33-6-34, compelling claimants to institute suits to recover amounts due by offering substantially less than the amounts ultimately recovered is an enumerated unfair claims settlement practice. Applied through the frequency standard of O.C.G.A. § 33-6-33, a pattern of lowball offers designed to wear claimants into court is exactly the conduct the Insurance Commissioner's claims-practices authority targets.

Why the other options are wrong

• B) Insurers may negotiate, but structuring offers to force claimants into litigation is expressly enumerated as an unfair claims settlement practice, not a free negotiation choice.
• C) Defamation requires a false or derogatory statement about a person or insurer; an inadequate settlement offer makes no statement about anyone's character.
• D) Twisting is a sales practice — misrepresenting terms to induce a policy surrender — and has no application to claim settlement amounts.

Memory hook

Lowballing claimants into court is an unfair claims practice, not tough negotiating.