Washington Already Requires Most of What People Think Is Coming
The short version. Washington's insurance commissioner has an open rulemaking on claims handling, and the total-loss part of it is being described as introducing things that are already in the rule and have been for seventeen years. If you have a Washington total loss right now, you are better protected than the coverage suggests, and the protections are enforceable today rather than pending. The genuinely new thing on the table is narrow and worth knowing: if the insurer knocks money off because of your car's condition, it would have to show you photographs.
Already law, since 21 August 2009
WAC 284-30-391 and 284-30-392 were adopted under WSR 09-11-129, filed 20 May 2009 and effective 21 August 2009. Nothing below is proposed. All of it is enforceable now.
| What the rule already requires | Where |
|---|---|
| "Comparable" is defined, and tightly: same make and model, same or newer model year, similar body style, similar options and mileage, similar overall condition | WAC 284-30-320(3) |
| The data behind it must be within ninety days either side of the date of loss | WAC 284-30-320(4) |
| If no comparable is found nearby, the search expands in 25-mile rings out to 150 miles, and past 150 only with your agreement | WAC 284-30-391(2)(b)(v) |
| The settlement offer must be communicated by phone or in writing, with the date, the time and the name of the person it was made to written in the claim file | WAC 284-30-391(4)(a) |
| A deduction for prior unrepaired damage can be no larger than the actual decrease in value that damage caused | WAC 284-30-391(5)(b) |
| Every addition and deduction must be explained and itemised in specific dollar amounts | WAC 284-30-391(5)(d) |
| The valuation report must list each comparable with its source, its date, the seller's contact details or the VIN, the asking price, the sold price where available, and the location | WAC 284-30-392(3) |
| Where a computerised valuation source is used, any weighting applied to reach an average must be documented and explained | WAC 284-30-392(4)(c) |
| If within 35 days of final payment you could not buy a comparable for the settlement amount but found one costing more, the insurer must reopen the file | WAC 284-30-391(6)(a) |
Two of those are stronger than most people expect and are worth saying out loud.
The weighting line. If your insurer used a computerised valuation and averaged some comparables more heavily than others, the rule already says that weighting must be documented and explained. Not disclosed on request. Documented and explained.
The reopen right. Thirty-five days is not long, but it is a real remedy and it does not require you to sue anyone. You have to actually locate a comparable that costs more and not buy it, and then say so.
What the open rulemaking would actually change
Docket R 2025-05, "Clarifying and updating the minimum standards for claims handling". The commissioner filed a notice to start it on 18 June 2025, put out three prepublication drafts, filed a first proposed rulemaking on 18 March 2026 and a supplemental one, WSR 26-10-078, on 5 May 2026. The hearing was held on 11 June 2026 and comments closed on 12 June 2026.
It has not been adopted. We read the commissioner's own rulemaking page on 18 August 2026 and there is no CR-103 adoption order on it. Until one is filed, the 2009 rule above is what governs.
The supplemental notice amends fifteen sections of chapter 284-30. We read two of them, the total loss sections, and are not summarising the rest. In those two, the changes that matter are these.
Photographs for a condition deduction. New language in WAC 284-30-392 would require that where the insurer made a deduction for the loss vehicle's condition, it must give the claimant supporting photographs and documentation demonstrating how it determined that condition.
Condition of the comparables, on request. Also new: where the insurer used the condition of a comparable vehicle to reduce a payment, then on the claimant's request it must provide supporting information about that condition.
And one change that is not a change. In WAC 284-30-391(2)(b)(v) the words "twenty-five" are struck and the numerals "25" inserted. That is a style edit. The search-area requirement itself is untouched, which is why it belongs in the table above rather than in this section, and it is the single likeliest source of the impression that expanding ring searches are being introduced.
Why the difference matters
The two condition provisions point at the same soft spot from opposite ends, and it is the one part of a total loss valuation a claimant can almost never test.
An insurer deducts for your car's condition. You have no photographs of what they looked at. A comparable is adjusted down for its condition, and you have a line in a report with no way to see the vehicle behind it. WAC 284-30-392(3) already makes them tell you where each comparable came from. What it does not make them do is show you why the number moved.
That is what the proposal would add, and it is narrow enough to be worth watching rather than dramatic enough to be worth waiting for. If your total loss is happening now, the 2009 rule already gives you the itemisation, the ninety-day data window, the documented weighting and the reopen right.
What we are not saying
We are not saying the proposal is law. No CR-103 adoption order had been filed when we read the commissioner's rulemaking page on 18 August 2026. The proposed language could change before adoption or not be adopted at all.
We are not summarising the whole rulemaking. The supplemental notice reaches fifteen sections of chapter 284-30. We read the two total loss sections. What it does to the other thirteen is not described here and should not be inferred from what is.
We are not saying your insurer is breaking the rule. These are the standards; whether a particular file met them is a question about that file.
We are not describing any other state. Washington's 2009 rule is unusually detailed, but "unusually" would need a fifty-state comparison to assert and we have not made one.
If you are looking at a Washington total loss right now
Ask for the valuation report. WAC 284-30-391(4)(d) requires a true and accurate copy on request, and 284-30-392 sets out what has to be in it.
Check the dates on the comparables. Anything outside ninety days either side of your date of loss is not current data under WAC 284-30-320(4).
Check the distance. Comparables should come from within a reasonable distance of where the car is principally garaged, and the expansion to 150 miles is a fallback for when nothing closer exists, not a starting point.
Look for the weighting. If a computerised source averaged the comparables, WAC 284-30-392(4)(c) already requires that the weighting be documented and explained.
Ask what any condition deduction is based on. Today the rule requires the deduction to be itemised and explained. The photographs are the part still under consideration.
Diarise thirty-five days. That is the window in WAC 284-30-391(6)(a), and it runs from the date final payment is sent.
Sources
- WAC 284-30-391, WAC 284-30-392 and the definitions at WAC 284-30-320, read in full on 18 August 2026 from the Washington State Legislature's own site. Adopted by WSR 09-11-129 (Matter No. R 2007-08), filed 20 May 2009, effective 21 August 2009, under RCW 48.02.060 and 48.30.010.
- Rulemaking R 2025-05, "Clarifying and updating the minimum standards for claims handling", Office of the Insurance Commissioner. Rulemaking page read 18 August 2026: CR-101 filed 18 June 2025, first CR-102 filed 18 March 2026, supplemental CR-102 WSR 26-10-078 filed 5 May 2026, hearing 11 June 2026, comments closed 12 June 2026, no CR-103.
- Supplemental CR-102 (WSR 26-10-078), read 18 August 2026 from the commissioner's own host, scoped to WAC 284-30-391 and 284-30-392.
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General consumer information: not legal, insurance, or financial advice. Requirements, coverage, and practices vary by state, policy, and manufacturer.