A plaintiff seeking to compel a defendant insurance company’s disclosure of loss reserves in connection with the plaintiff’s claims of bad faith, breach of contract, and violation of the Washington consumer protection act was not permitted to discover that information, since the plaintiff failed to assert how loss reserve information would be relevant to its claims. The plaintiff was entitled to the production of a reinsurance treaty, which the court held must be produced as part of the “initial disclosures” required by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. However, the plaintiff was not permitted to obtain discovery of communications between the defendant and its reinsurer regarding the treaty. The court determined that such communications were irrelevant to the interpretation of the underlying policy. Heights at Issaquah Ridge Owners Ass’n v. Steadfast Insurance Co., Case No. C07-1045RSM (USDC W.D. Wash. Dec. 13, 2007).
This post written by Brian Perryman.