King County v Travelers Indemnity Company et al

Filing 445

ORDER by Judge Barbara J. Rothstein denying Defendant Providence Washington Insurance Company's 295 Motion for Partial Summary Judgment. (PM)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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KING COUNTY,

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Plaintiff,
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v.

Civil Action No. 2:14-cv-01957-BJR

TRAVELERS INDEMNITY CO.,
PROVIDENCE WASHINGTON
INSURANCE CO., et al.,

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Defendants.

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT
PROVIDENCE WASHINGTON’S
MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY
JUDGMENT

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ORDER
Defendant Providence Washington Insurance Company (“Providence”) moves for

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summary judgment on bad-faith claims brought by Plaintiff King County. Providence argues
that the County’s bad-faith claims fail as a matter of law because there is no underlying duty to

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defend. Having already determined in its previous Order [Dkt. #444] that Providence breached

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its duty to defend King County, the Court denies summary judgment on this basis.

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Providence also asserts that the Court should grant summary judgment on King County’s
“request for coverage by estoppel” on the County’s bad-faith claims. Dkt. 295 at 8. Coverage

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by estoppel allows an insured in some circumstances to maintain an action against its insurer for
bad faith “regardless of whether the insurer was ultimately correct in determining that coverage
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did not exist.” Coventry Assocs v. Americans States Ins. Co., 961 P.2d 933, 937 (Wash. 1998).
In other words, coverage by estoppel is an alternative bad-faith theory for policyholders who are

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not able to prove an actual bad-faith breach. However, the Court has already determined that

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Providence breached the duty to defend, making any estoppel argument irrelevant to the ultimate

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disposal of King County’s bad-faith claims. Therefore, Providence’s Motion for Partial

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Summary Judgment [Dkt. #295] is denied.

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Dated this 13th day of February, 2017.

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A

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Barbara Jacobs Rothstein
U.S. District Court Judge

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