One standard policy provision among several purports to require the following behavior from First-Party Insureds in all claims:
Your Duties After Loss.
In case of a loss to covered property, you must see that the following are done:
…
f. as often as we reasonably require:
(1). show the damaged property;
(2). provide us with records and documents we request and permit us to make copies; and
(3). submit to examination under oath, while not in the presence of any other insured, and sign the same.
However, majority views in the case law include the following bullet points:
- E/U/O NOT a deposition;
- NOT Rules of Civil Procedure;
- NOT Rules of Evidence;
- Provisions of the Insurance Contract.
A recent Supreme Court of Washington en banc decision added the holding, which may or may not represent the coming majority view, that if an Examination Under Oath is not material to the claim, it is no defense to the Insurance Carrier if the Insured does not provide an EUO. "Given the quasi-fiduciary nature of the insurance relationship, we hold that if an EUO is not material to the investigation or handling of a claim, an insurer cannot demand it." Staples v. Allstate Insurance Co., 2013 WL 258877 ¶ 26 *5 (Wash. January 24, 2013).
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