WASHINGTON FEDERAL COURT DECLINES TO RULE ON WHETHER NEGLIGENT CLAIM HANDLING AND BAD FAITH CLAIMS ARE DISTINCT CAUSES OF ACTION UNDER WASHINGTON LAW

Despite the fact that no Washington appellate court has explicitly recognized a cause of action for negligent claims handling separate and apart from a claim for insurance bad faith in first-party claims, many policy holders have asserted such claims in the past. On June 6, 2016, Judge Richard A. Jones for the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington declined to rule on this issue by denying an insurer’s motion for summary judgment to dismiss a negligence claim premised on an insurer’s claim handling practices.

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