WASHINGTON COURT FINDS NO BAD FAITH DESPITE PROLONGED CLAIM RECONCILIATION PERIOD

Quarterly Newsletter Spring 2018

An insurer’s excessively low claim settlement offer can give rise to a claim under Washington’s Insurance Fair Conduct Act (“IFCA”) if the insurer made the offer knowing that the value of the claim was actually much higher. In a recent opinion, however, a Washing ton court rejected an insured’s bad faith and Consumer Protection Act (“CPA”) claims based on a drawn-out claims adjustment process where the insurer gradually increased its valuation of the claim and ultimately paid the amount the insured’s contractor estimated as necessary to restore the insured’s home to its pre-loss condition.

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