Karon Law Blog

What is Chapter 176D?

Posted October 13, 2026

[Editor’s/Founder’s Note: Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 176D provides important consumer protections against insurance company abuses. Below, Attorney Julia Sicard explains how Chapter 176D works together with Chapter 93A to hold insurance companys accountable for unfair claims handling practices. JAK]

By Julia Sicard

What is Chapter 176D?

In a previous blog post, What is Chapter 93A?, we mentioned another powerful Massachusetts statute and tool in the personal injury lawyer’s arsenal: Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 176D. Whereas Chapter 93A applies in a wide variety of contexts, Chapter 176D specifically regulates the conduct of insurance companies. Chapter 176D prohibits “unfair method[s] of competition and unfair or deceptive act[s] or practice[s] in the business of insurance.”  This law regulates nearly all aspects of insurance, from advertising to claims handling and settlement.

How could Chapter 176D come up in my personal injury case?

Chapter 176D often comes up in the context of personal injury cases through insurance claims handling and settlement. Misconduct can occur if an insurance company handles your bodily injury claim or underinsurance claim improperly, or tries to settle your case in an unfair or deceptive way.

What is the relationship between Chapter 176D and Chapter 93A?

Unlike Chapter 93A, Chapter 176D doesn’t provide what’s known as a “private right of action” meaning it doesn’t grant individuals the right to sue insurance companies solely for violating its provisions.  Nonetheless, Chapter 176D can dovetail with Chapter 93A during insurance disputes and allow individual victims to sue insurance companies for prohibited claims handling practices. This is because Chapter 176D violations are considered “per se” violations of Chapter 93A, meaning that an insurance company’s violation of Chapter 176D automatically counts as a violation of Chapter 93A. In this way, a Chapter 176D violation can form the basis of a Chapter 93A claim, which is the actual mechanism for the lawsuit. Metaphorically speaking, if Chapter 93A is a gun, then Chapter 176D is the ammunition. These two laws can work together in powerful ways, allowing victims to recover up to triple damages in certain circumstances. For more information on how to bring a Chapter 93A claim and the remedies available under Chapter 93A, please see our previous blog post: What is Chapter93A?  

What counts as a Chapter 176D violation?

Whereas Chapter 93A leaves the question of what counts as a violation open-ended, Chapter 176D lists specific violations divided into multiple categories. The most relevant section for personal injury victims is usually Section 3(9), which contains over fifteen unfair claims settlement practices including:

(a) Misrepresenting pertinent facts or insurance policy provisions relating to coverages at issue;

(b) Failing to acknowledge and act reasonably promptly upon communications with respect to claims arising under insurance policies

(c) Failing to adopt and implement reasonable standards for the prompt investigation of claims arising under insurance policies;

(d) Refusing to pay claims without conducting a reasonable investigation based upon all available information;

(e) Failing to affirm or deny coverage of claims within a reasonable time after proof of loss statements have been completed;

(f) Failing to effectuate prompt, fair and equitable settlements of claims in which liability has become reasonably clear;

(g) Compelling insureds to institute litigation to recover amounts due under an insurance policy by offering substantially less than the amounts ultimately recovered in actions brought by such insureds;

(h) Attempting to settle a claim for less than the amount to which a reasonable man would have believed he was entitled by reference to written or printed advertising material accompanying or made part of an application;

(l) Delaying the investigation or payment of claims by requiring that an insured or claimant, or the physician of either, submit a preliminary claim report and then requiring the subsequent submission of formal proof of loss forms, both of which submissions contain substantially the same information; and

(n) Failing to provide promptly a reasonable explanation of the basis in the insurance policy   in relation to the facts or applicable law for denial of a claim or for the offer of a compromise settlement.

For the full list of unfair claims settlement practices and other types of Chapter 176D violations, please see the text of Chapter 176D, Section 3.https://www.mass.gov/info-details/mass-general-laws-c176d-ss-3

To put the above into context, consider the following hypothetical examples. If you ask an insurance adjuster a claim-related question and they ignore you for six months, you may be looking at a violation of Chapter 176D, §3(9)(b). If an insurance adjuster auto-rejects your claim without looking into the matter at all, you may you may be looking at a violation of Chapter 176D, §3(9)(d). If an insurance adjuster gives you a “low-ball” offer when their insured driver admitted that they caused the crash, forcing you to drag them to court to get the amount you deserve, you would be looking at a violation of Chapter 176D, §3(9)(g). If an insurance adjuster refuses to move forward with your claim until after you spend hours filling out piles of paperwork which all asks for the same information over and over again, you may be looking at a violation of Chapter 176D, §3(9)(l). Of course, it is important to keep in mind that whether or not a given scenario counts as a violation of Chapter 176D is highly fact specific.

What Should I do if I Think that An Insurance Company was Unfair or Deceptive?

The best thing to do if you believe that you suffered a loss because an insurance company treated you unfairly is contact an attorney. At Karon Law, we regularly help injured clients navigate insurance claims and identify potential Chapter 176D violations.