H-1688              _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 1051

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1987 Regular Session

By Representatives Bumgarner, Ballard, Moyer, Lux, Lewis, D. Sommers, Ferguson, Brooks, Walker, Nealey, Holland, Braddock and Sanders

Read first time 2/23/87 and referred to Committee on Judiciary.

AN ACT Relating to liability-free contracts; adding a new section to chapter 4.24 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     The legislature finds that increasing litigation has resulted in extraordinary costs of liability insurance.  Costs of transacting business in this state have been escalated to the point of removing businesses and professions from the market place.  Insurance companies have failed to provide reasonable liability insurance for providers of limited services.  The result has been that important service resources are being withdrawn from the market place.  The provider/purchaser relationship is captive to the insurance and legal professions with no suitable alternative.

          It is the intention of the legislature to provide for citizens of this state the right to engage in litigation-free contracts to provide an alternative to liability insurance and tort claims.  It is expected that the public will be able to receive lower cost services and the insurance and legal professions will be forced to be more competitive.

          It is further intended that licensed providers of services in this state engaging in litigation-free contracts shall provide the public with sufficient information to allow the purchaser fair knowledge about the service provided and the provider's credentials, including training, certification, and service providing history.  Additionally, the licensing authorities shall be empowered to control the issuance of licenses based on the performance of the provider in this state and any other place of previous service delivery.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 4.24 RCW to read as follows:

          The legislative authorizes the use of liability-free contracts between consumers and businesses or professions that are licensed by the state.  A liability-free contract shall contain substantially the following:

          (1) A basic description of the services to be performed, approximate cost for services, and a list of possible complications, accidents, or side effects of the service performance;

          (2) The name of the provider, current business and residential addresses and phone numbers;

          (3) The state license description, number, and licensing authority;

          (4) Certifications, dates, and certifying authorities;

          (5) Educational degrees and the institutions granting the degrees;

          (6) Number of similar services previously provided in this state;

          (7) The approximate number of similar services previously provided outside the state;

          (8) A list of all liability claims or complaints to any authority, including the date, the name and address of the complainant, the reviewing authority, and any judgment or other disposition or settlement;

          (9) A statement of the provider's liability insurance status;

          (10) A statement of the agreement to provide services based on good intent and record of previous performance, free of liability except for wilful and intentional misconduct, and that the information in the contract is a true and complete history;

          (11) A statement of the free choice agreement to receive the services based on the understanding that the information in the contract is true and complete, that the consumer agrees not to pursue any form of litigation related to the services, that the consumer is either self-insured or has elected to assume all risks in return for the contracted services, and that no heirs or assigns may intervene to breach the intent of this contract; and

          (12) A statement that the consumer, heirs, or assigns shall file any complaints with the provider's licensing authority in lieu of tort litigation.