March 31, 2020 @ 10:30 AM
Insurance Webinar: Coverage Issues in Claims Related to COVID-19
Tuesday, March 31st 10:30-11:30 am (PDT) Register Now Join partner Eliot Harris and associate Miles Stewart from Williams Kastner to discuss potential coverage issues arising from COVID-19. We are already seeing insurance claims for lost earnings, business interruption, and lost profits caused by COVID-19, as well as liability claims for companies’ response to the outbreak....
WASHINGTON FEDERAL COURT FINDS NO BAD FAITH FOR INSURER’S FAILURE TO RESPOND TO ROOFER’S TENDER WHEN INSURED CANNOT SHOW HARM
Quarterly Newsletter Summer 2018 The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington recently held in Diamond Constr., LLC v. Atl. Cas. Ins. Co., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136335 (W.D. Wash., Aug. 14, 2018) that an insurance company’s failure to respond to its insured’s tender of defense did not constitute bad faith because...
WASHINGTON FEDERAL COURT REJECTS INSURANCE FAIR CONDUCT ACT CLAIM ABSENT EVIDENCE OF UNREASONABLE DENIAL OF COVERAGE
Quarterly Newsletter Summer 2018 In 2007, Washington voters passed Referendum 67, which gave rise to Washington’s Insurance Fair Conduct Act (“IFCA”), codified in RCW 48.30 et . seq. Generally speaking, IFCA provides for a cause of action by a “first party claimant to a policy of insurance who is unreasonably denied a claim for coverage...
ALASKA SUPREME COURT FINDS MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT CLAIMANT WAS NOT “OCCUPYING” INSURED’S VEHICLE TO SEEK UIM COVERAGE UNDER INSURED’S POLICY
Quarterly Newsletter Summer 2018 Many automobile insurance policies provide underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage to the named insured, as well as others that are “occupying” an insured automobile during an accident . The interpretation of what circumstances constitute occupancy of an insured automobile by a person that is not other wise an insured under the policy...
WASHINGTON SUPREME COURT FINDS THAT EXCLUSIVE MEANS OF SERVICE FOR AUTHORIZED FOREIGN INSURER IS THROUGH WASHINGTON STATE INSURANCE COMMISSIONER
Quarterly Newsletter Spring 2018 Similar to the vast majority of other states, service of legal process is governed by statute in Washington. RCW 48.05.200(1) states that an “authorized foreign or alien insurer must appoint the commissioner as its attorney to receive service of, and upon whom must be served, all legal process issued against it...
WASHINGTON COURT LIMITS DISCOVERY OF INSURER’S CLAIMS-HANDLING MANUALS AND GUIDELINES FOR UNRELATED LINES OF COVERAGE
Quarterly Newsletter Winter 2017 Insurers faced with a bad faith lawsuit are often asked in discovery to produce copies of claim handling manuals and guidelines. Oftentimes such discovery requests are broad and request any manuals or guidelines used by the insurer regardless of whether it specifically applies to the policy at issue. Courts in various...
WASHINGTON COURT OF APPEALS REFUSES TO ALLOW PRODUCTION OF POST-LITIGATION COMMUNICATION BETWEEN INSURER AND COVERAGE COUNSEL IN DEFENSE OF UIM CLAIM
Quarterly Newsletter Fall 2017 Ever since the Washington Supreme Court rendered its decision in Cedell v. Farmers Ins. Co. of Washington, 176 Wn.2d 686, 295 P.3d 239 (2013), state and federal courts in Washington have grappled with the fallout. One of key questions is when, and to what extent, policyholders are entitled to discovery of...
USLAW Spring / Summer 2017 – THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS
Parties to construction contracts have historically used indemnity clauses to shift the responsibility to pay damages from one party (the indemnitee) to another party (the indemnitor) without regard to who actually caused the damage. Over time, however, states enacted so-called “antiindemnity” statutes to limit the amount of liability that parties to construction contracts can allocate...
WASHINGTON APPELLATE COURT FINDS INSURER NOT COLLATERALLY ESTOPPED FROM CONTESTING LIABILITY ISSUES IN DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACTION
Quarterly Newsletter Summer 2017 In Washington, insurers can be subject to collateral estoppel, which bars litigation of the same issue in a subsequent declaratory judgment action, when that issue was actually litigated in the underlying proceeding. The circumstances that allow collateral estoppel to apply vary on a case-by-case basis, but generally turn on whether the...
OREGON COURT OF APPEALS RENDERS IMPORTANT DECISION ON VARIOUS COVERAGE ISSUES ARISING OUT OF CONSTRUCTION DEFECT LAWSUIT
Quarterly Newsletter Summer 2017 In an effort to stem the flood of claims for coverage arising out of construction defect lawsuits, insurers have included various exclusions and endorsements to limit coverage for such claims in their commercial general liability policies issued to construction contractors and subcontractors. One such exclusion, titled the “Multi-Unit New Residential Construction”...
Eliot Harris Appointed to Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation Board of Directors
Williams Kastner proudly announces that Seattle member Eliot Harris has been elected to the Board of Directors for the Washington Chapter of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation. The IICF is a public charity founded over thirty years ago that is funded and directed by insurance industry professionals representing a broad spectrum of the industry. It’s...
ALASKA SUPREME COURT FINDS DUTY OWED BY LIABILITY INSURER TO THIRD-PARTY CLAIMANT
Quarterly Newsletter Spring 2017 Over the years, policyholders and their attorneys have sought to assert tort claims directly against liability insurers for alleged mishandling of liability claims. While the general rule in many jurisdictions is that third party claimants have no independent cause of action against the policyholder’s liability insurer absent an assignment of rights...