Tiev v. The Standard Fire Insurance Company, 2:23-cv-00950

Plaintiffs Malyna Tiev and James Norris were injured in a 2018 car accident when their car was rear-ended by an at-fault driver insured by Allstate.
Plaintiffs had a Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and Underinsured Motorist (UIM) policy with Standard Fire Insurance Company.
After settling with Allstate for the at-fault driver’s policy limits ($100,000) and exhausting PIP benefits, Tiev sought UIM benefits from Standard Fire, alleging total damages of over $731,700.
Standard Fire conducted a review through an in-house LPN (not a physician), determined plaintiffs were fully compensated by prior settlements, and made no further UIM payment, leading to a dispute.
Plaintiffs filed suit alleging bad faith, IFCA violation, CPA violation, negligence, and breach of contract; Standard Fire sought summary judgment on extracontractual claims and referenced a prior arbitration award.
The court considered both parties’ expert reports on claim handling and the admissibility of the arbitration award.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Bad faith claim	Standard Fire unreasonably denied UIM benefits, relying on an unqualified nurse review.	Acted reasonably and within industry standards.	Genuine issues of fact preclude summary judgment.
IFCA claim	Unreasonable denial of UIM claim creates IFCA liability.	Standard Fire didn’t deny coverage; it’s a value dispute.	Summary judgment denied; factual disputes remain.
CPA claim	Claim handling was unfair/deceptive and caused damages.	No unfair/deceptive act or injury from claim handling.	Summary judgment denied; jury could find for plaintiffs.
Negligence claim	Insurer breached duties in claim handling/adjustment.	No specific arguments advanced.	Summary judgment denied; factual disputes remain.

Smith v. Safeco Ins. Co., 78 P.3d 1274 (Wa. 2003) (insurer's breach of good faith assessed by reasonableness; question of fact)
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242 (1986) (summary judgment standard—material fact and reasonable jury)
Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317 (1986) (summary judgment where there’s a complete failure of proof)
Capelouto v. Valley Forge Ins. Co., 990 P.2d 414 (Wa. 1999) (bad faith not found if reasonable coverage dispute exists)
Hangman Ridge Training Stables, Inc. v. Safeco Title Ins. Co., 719 P.2d 531 (Wa. 1986) (CPA claim elements)
Industrial Indem. v. Kallevig, 792 P.2d 520 (Wa. 1990) (violation of insurance regulations constitutes a per se unfair trade practice)