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WPI 320.07 Special Verdict Form—Insurer's Failure to Act in Good Faith

6A WAPRAC WPI 320.07Washington Practice Series TMWashington Pattern Jury Instructions--Civil

6A Wash. Prac., Wash. Pattern Jury Instr. Civ. WPI 320.07 (7th ed.)

Washington Practice Series TM

Washington Pattern Jury Instructions--Civil

April 2022 Update

Washington State Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions

Part XV. Insurance Bad Faith

Chapter 320. Insurance Bad Faith Actions

WPI 320.07 Special Verdict Form—Insurer's Failure to Act in Good Faith

(Insert caption.)

We, the jury, answer the questions submitted by the court as follows:

QUESTION 1: Did(name of insurer)fail to act in good faith?

ANSWER: (Write “yes” or “no”)

(INSTRUCTION: If you answered “no” to Question 1, sign this verdict form. If you answered “yes” to Question 1, answer Question 2.)

QUESTION 2: Did(name of insurer's)failure to act in good faith proximately cause [injury] [damage] to(name of plaintiff)?

ANSWER: (Write “yes” or “no”)

(INSTRUCTION: If you answered “no” to Question 2, sign this verdict form. If you answered “yes” to Question 2, answer Question 3.)

QUESTION 3: What is the amount of(name of plaintiff's)damages?

ANSWER: $

(DIRECTION: Sign this verdict and notify the bailiff.)

DATE:
	Presiding Juror

NOTE ON USE

Select the appropriate bracketed term in question number 2.

See the Comment below as to modifying this verdict form and as to damages issues.

COMMENT

This verdict form will need to be modified in some insurance bad faith cases. For example, in some cases the amount of damages will not be in dispute, inasmuch as the recovery will be determined by the amount of the underlying judgment or settlement.

This chapter does not include a pattern instruction on damages. The WPI Committee found it impractical to draft a pattern instruction because the recoverable elements of damages in insurance bad faith cases vary greatly depending on the underlying facts and claims. See generally Harris, Washington Insurance Law, § 7.05 and Chapter 20 (3d ed.), and 16A DeWolf & Allen, Washington Practice, Tort Law and Practice, §§ 28:2, 28:3; 28:7, 28:12, 28:12.50, 28:16.50 (4th ed.). Practitioners should draft a damages instruction by adapting the format of other pattern damages instructions to fit the facts and claims of the particular insurance bad faith case. See, e.g., WPI 30.01.01 (Measure of Economic and Noneconomic Damages—Personal Injury—No Contributory Negligence).

[Current as of September 2018.]

End of Document