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 or payment of benefits by an insurer.” RCW 48.30.015(1). The statute provides for an award of up to three times the actual damages caused by the unreasonable denial of coverage of payment, as well as attorney’s fees. In the 11 years since IFCA was enacted, it has spawned a large amount of coverage litigation about what conduct is actionable.

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