{"id":894074,"date":"2018-04-26T09:41:41","date_gmt":"2018-04-26T15:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=894074"},"modified":"2018-04-26T09:41:41","modified_gmt":"2018-04-26T15:41:41","slug":"claim-handling-requirements-state-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/claim-handling-requirements-state-washington\/","title":{"rendered":"Claim Handling Requirements by State \u2013 Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Julitza Perez | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propertyinsurancecoveragelaw.com\/2018\/04\/articles\/insurance-claim\/claim-handling-requirements-by-state-washington\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog<\/a> | April 18, 2018<\/p>\n<p>Washington State is not only known as the \u201cEvergreen State\u201d and the only state named after a United States President, but it is also the home of many innovative Internet companies and where the biggest coffee chain in the world was founded: Starbucks. Besides these facts it is also important to know how a claim should be handled in Washington.<\/p>\n<p>First an insured may bring an action in the superior court of this state to recover the actual damages sustained, together with the costs of the action, including reasonable attorneys\u2019 fees and litigation costs.<sup>1<\/sup>\u00a0The court may increase the total award of damages to an amount not to exceed three times the actual damages<sup>2<\/sup>\u00a0or make any other determination regarding an action for an unfair or deceptive practice of an insurer or provide for any other remedy available at law.<sup>3<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>It is important for the first party claimant to provide a written notice of the basis for the cause of action to the insurer and office of the insurance commissioner twenty (20) days prior to filing.<sup>4<\/sup>The notice may be provided by regular mail, registered mail, or certified mail with return requested and the insurer and insurance commissioner are deemed to have received notice three (3) business days after the notice is mailed. If a written notice of a claim is served under the time prescribed for filing an action, the statute of limitations for the action is tolled during the twenty (20) day period.<sup>5<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Washington\u2019s Administrative Code (WAC) defines \u201cSpecific Unfair Claims Settlement Practices.\u201d<sup>6<\/sup>This definition provides nineteen (19) specific deceptive acts or practices considered as unfair methods of competition and practices of the insurer in the business of insurance. Many of these acts and methods are common to those defined by statutes in other states such as misrepresenting pertinent facts,<sup>7<\/sup>\u00a0failing to acknowledge and act reasonably promptly upon communication,<sup>8<\/sup>\u00a0refusing to pay claims without conducting a reasonable investigation,<sup>9<\/sup>\u00a0and not attempting in good faith to effectuate prompt, fair and equitable settlements.<sup>10<\/sup>\u00a0WAC also included other specific acts or unfair methods in the business of insurance such as failing to adopt and implement reasonable standards for the processing and payment of claims after the obligation to pay has been established<sup>11<\/sup>\u00a0and negotiating or settling a claim directly with any claimant known to be represented by an attorney without the attorney\u2019s knowledge and consent.<sup>12<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Both Washington codes provide a wide list for protection against unreasonable denials, payment or unfair settlements of insurance claims. It is important for Washington insureds to know of their rights under these codes and for insurers to comply.<br \/>\n_______________<br \/>\n<sup>1<\/sup>\u00a0RCWA 48.30.015 (1)<br \/>\n<sup>2<\/sup>\u00a0RCWA 48.30.015 (2)<br \/>\n<sup>3<\/sup>\u00a0RCWA 48.30.015 (6)<br \/>\n<sup>4<\/sup>\u00a0RCWA 48.30.015 (8) (a)<br \/>\n<sup>5<\/sup>\u00a0RCWA 48.30.015 (8) (d)<br \/>\n<sup>6<\/sup>\u00a0WAC 284-30-330<br \/>\n<sup>7<\/sup>\u00a0WAC 284-30-330 (1)<br \/>\n<sup>8<\/sup>\u00a0WAC 284-30-330 (2)<br \/>\n<sup>9<\/sup>\u00a0WAC 284-30-330 (4)<br \/>\n<sup>10<\/sup>\u00a0WAC 284-30-330 (6)<br \/>\n<sup>11<\/sup>\u00a0WAC 284-30-330 (16)<br \/>\n<sup>12<\/sup>\u00a0WAC 284-30-330 (19)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Julitza Perez | Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog | April 18, 2018 Washington State is not only known as the \u201cEvergreen State\u201d and the only state named after a United States President, but it is also the home of many innovative Internet companies and where the biggest coffee chain in the world was founded: Starbucks.&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/claim-handling-requirements-state-washington\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Claim Handling Requirements by State \u2013 Washington<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[9895,511,3,306],"class_list":["post-894074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insurance-claims","tag-advise-consult","tag-claims-handling","tag-insurance-claims","tag-washington","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Claim Handling Requirements by State \u2013 Washington - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It is important for Washington insureds to know of their rights under these codes and for insurers to comply to claim handling requirements\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/claim-handling-requirements-state-washington\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Claim Handling Requirements by State \u2013 Washington - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is important for Washington insureds to know of their rights under these codes and for insurers to comply to claim handling requirements\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/claim-handling-requirements-state-washington\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-04-26T15:41:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/claim-handling-requirements-state-washington\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/claim-handling-requirements-state-washington\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\"},\"headline\":\"Claim Handling Requirements by State \u2013 Washington\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-26T15:41:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/claim-handling-requirements-state-washington\/\"},\"wordCount\":472,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Advise &amp; Consult\",\"Claims Handling\",\"Insurance Claims\",\"Washington\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Insurance Claims\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/claim-handling-requirements-state-washington\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/claim-handling-requirements-state-washington\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/claim-handling-requirements-state-washington\/\",\"name\":\"Claim Handling Requirements by State \u2013 Washington - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-26T15:41:41+00:00\",\"description\":\"It is important for Washington insureds to know of their rights under these codes and for insurers to comply to claim handling requirements\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/claim-handling-requirements-state-washington\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"description\":\"Construction Expert Witnesses\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Advise & Consult\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"width\":162,\"height\":75,\"caption\":\"Advise & Consult\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Claim Handling Requirements by State \u2013 Washington - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"It is important for Washington insureds to know of their rights under these codes and for insurers to comply to claim handling requirements","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/claim-handling-requirements-state-washington\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Claim Handling Requirements by State \u2013 Washington - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","og_description":"It is important for Washington insureds to know of their rights under these codes and for insurers to comply to claim handling requirements","og_url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/claim-handling-requirements-state-washington\/","og_site_name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","article_published_time":"2018-04-26T15:41:41+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@adviseconsult","twitter_site":"@adviseconsult","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/claim-handling-requirements-state-washington\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/claim-handling-requirements-state-washington\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7"},"headline":"Claim Handling Requirements by State \u2013 Washington","datePublished":"2018-04-26T15:41:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/claim-handling-requirements-state-washington\/"},"wordCount":472,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Advise &amp; Consult","Claims Handling","Insurance Claims","Washington"],"articleSection":["Insurance Claims"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/claim-handling-requirements-state-washington\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/claim-handling-requirements-state-washington\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/claim-handling-requirements-state-washington\/","name":"Claim Handling Requirements by State \u2013 Washington - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-04-26T15:41:41+00:00","description":"It is important for Washington insureds to know of their rights under these codes and for insurers to comply to claim handling requirements","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/claim-handling-requirements-state-washington\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"Construction Expert Witnesses","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Advise & Consult","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","width":162,"height":75,"caption":"Advise & Consult"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ztG6-3KAy","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=894074"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":894075,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894074\/revisions\/894075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}