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Hurricane Nicole became Tropical Storm Nicole when it reached here. The storm did not blow you away, but a new decision will.
In the State of Washington, the Insurance Fair Conduct Act (IFCA) provides remedies to parties allegedly injured by the conduct of insurance carriers, in pertinent part. IFCA defendants can include insurance carriers and IFCA requires the equivalent of a Civil Remedy Notice just as so-called "bad faith statutes" do. The CRN is a condition precedent to suit in all such statutory actions.
In Lyons v. USAA Cas. Ins. Co., No. 3:22-cv-05462-JHC, 2022 WL 16854273 (W.D. Wash. Nov. 10, 2022), the plaintiff filed the complaint on June 24, 2022 and perfected his IFCA notice thereafter. The plaintiff is a claims adjuster formerly employed by the defendant; the plaintiff filed his complaint after the defendant denied his homeowner's claim.
The plaintiff alleged several claims, including for declaratory relief, breach of contract, "Violation of Duty of Good Faith" citing Washington's Unfair Claim Settlement Practices Regulation and alleging the defendant's violation of "industry standards for the handling of insurance claims" (¶ 49), "Negligent Claims Handling," and alleged violations of the Washington Consumer Protection Act. These facts are not mentioned in the Court's opinion, but you can see them for yourself here in the plaintiff's complaint uploaded here from the Electronic Court File: Download Lyons v. USAA Cas. Ins. Co. DE 1 Complaint filed June 24 2022 (W.D. Wash. No. 3.22-cv-05462).
In the complaint, the plaintiff also "reserved the right" to allege a future claim in the case under the Insurance Fair Conduct Act. After filing the complaint, the plaintiff requested leave to amend to add an IFCA claim to his other claims including the bad faith claims. The carrier defended on two grounds in this case: First, that the IFCA claim was perfected only after the lawsuit was filed, and second, that the plaintiff actually gave notice under IFCA after the plaintiff filed the lawsuit.
The federal district judge in this case rejected both of those objections and granted the plaintiff's motion for leave to amend to add the IFCA claim. Lyons, 2022 WL 16854273, at *2-*3.
IFCA plaintiffs in insurance cases now have it on good authority that they can give the IFCA notice to the carrier after the plaintiffs have filed suit and that they can perfect their IFCA claims after they file suit regardless of when they give the required IFCA notice.
After Lyons, plaintiffs across the United States pursuing bad-faith claims under statutes that require Civil Remedy Notices now have the same precedent.
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