The Washington State Legislature introduced Senate Bill 6178 in the 2026 Regular Session. If enacted as drafted, SB 6178 would add a new section to chapter 48.30 RCW to prohibit post-loss assignment agreements in property insurance.
The bill provides that “no person shall solicit, coerce, require, or contract with any insured” to enter into an agreement that assigns or transfers “any post-loss insurance benefit under any property insurance coverage” from the insured to the person. It states that any such assignment agreement is “void and unenforceable.”
The bill’s findings describe a post-loss assignment of benefits as a contractual transfer of claim rights and benefits to a third party (often a restoration or mitigation contractor) and distinguish it from an insured’s authorisation of direct payment to a contractor, and from policy conditions restricting assignment of the policy itself without insurer approval. The Washington Insurance Commissioner is referenced in the bill as the requestor, and the bill would give the commissioner enforcement authority where there is cause to believe the prohibition has been violated, including the ability to take actions under RCW 48.02.080 and impose a fine of $50,000 per violation, with fines paid to the state treasurer for the general fund. The bill also sets out exceptions, stating the restriction does not apply to an insured’s written agreement with a licensed public adjuster to represent solely the policyholder’s financial interest on the loss; a written attorney agreement compensating the attorney by a percentage of monetary recovery as permitted by the rules of professional conduct; certain assignments or transfers granted to a federally insured financial institution, mortgagee, or subsequent purchaser of the property; or liability coverage under personal or commercial lines.
It further states nothing in the new section prohibits an insured from authorising or directing payment to, or paying, a person for services, materials, or other things that may be covered under an insurance policy.
