H-1582              _______________________________________________

                                           SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL NO. 140

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1987 Regular Session

By House Committee on Financial Institutions & Insurance (originally sponsored byRepresentatives Lux, P. King, Nutley, Holland and Ferguson; by request of Insurance Commissioner)

Read first time 2/9/87 and passed to Committee on Rules.

AN ACT Relating to insurance; and adding a new section to chapter 48.01 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 48.01 RCW to read as follows:

          (1) Any person who files reports, or furnishes other information, required under Title 48 RCW, required by the commissioner under authority granted by Title 48 RCW, useful to the commissioner in the administration of Title 48 RCW, or furnished to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners at the request of the commissioner or pursuant to Title 48 RCW, shall be immune from liability in any civil action or suit arising from the filing of any such report or furnishing such information to the commissioner or the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, unless actual malice, fraud, or bad faith is shown.

          (2) The commissioner and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and the agents and employees of each, are immune from liability in any civil action or suit arising from the publication of any report or bulletin or dissemination of information related to the official activities of the commissioner or the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, unless actual malice, fraud, or bad faith is shown.

          (3) The immunity granted by this section is in addition to any common law or statutory privilege or immunity enjoyed by such person, and nothing in this section is intended to abrogate or modify in any way such common law or statutory privilege or immunity.